A brother and sister bring home a plastic skeleton from the harvest fair, hang him in their sycamore tree, and name him Fred McFee. When the wind blows, his bones go clickety-clack. Old dog Sam now avoids the tree and “the rooster’s gone and the hens won’t lay, / since we got Fred McFee.” Then: “The dark is dropping like a cowl— / There’s no star to be seen. / What’s wrong with Sam? We hear him howl / This night of Halloween.” The next morning McFee has vanished, gone from the sycamore tree, but below is a mound they know is a grave and they mark the spot with pebbles and shells. Now when the wind howls and shakes the tree, “We hear them dancing the dance of the dead—those bones of Fred McFee!” Told in rhyme with the rhythm of an old narrative poem, the story will work as a scary read-aloud but it’s the attractive illustrations that cast the spell. The combination of smartly designed compositions and elongated perspectives creates an engrossingly eerie effect. The lines of the scratchboard and watercolors etch dimension into the shapes, pulling the scenes up in dramatic fashion. Jack-o’-lanterns shift from friendly to fearsome as they loom open-mouthed in the foreground. Fred is no namby-pamby skeleton; this is spookiness with attitude and a great new addition to Halloween shelves. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-15-202004-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A holiday outing that doesn’t quite satisfy.
In this follow-up to singer Parton and co-author Perl’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big (2023), literal and figurative bumps in the road imperil the touring canine country star’s promise to be home for Christmas.
Inspired by one of Parton’s holiday songs, the tale sees Billy, a small brown French bulldog, and bandmates Bo, Buster, and Binky boarding a tour bus for “pawsome” glimpses of natural wonders along with meetings with fans and “puparazzi.” Then, although Billy has sent many letters home promising to be there for the holiday, an invitation to play Barkafeller Center on Christmas Day instantly changes his tune. “Billy was happy. Though he still felt a little…he wasn’t sure what.” Readers may be excused for having mixed feelings about his mixed feelings, not to mention his tersely unapologetic note to the folks. But when, thanks to a bus-busting rock in the road on Christmas Eve, it looks like the band will have to contrive their own celebration (“Silent night, howly night”), Billy remembers that he started making music in the first place for his loved ones. He has no problem bagging the big concert (Fans? What fans? Contract? What contract?) when Dolly herself rolls up in her own bus to offer a ride back to his “Tennessee mountain home” in time for a small show for “the most important audience in the world.” While Billy cuts an endearing figure in Haley’s cartoonish illustrations, his willingness to disappoint first family, then fans may have readers feeling less than cheery.
A holiday outing that doesn’t quite satisfy. (lyrics to Parton’s “Comin’ Home for Christmas”) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780593755006
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
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