Still, for beginning readers yearning for fantastic alternatives in their reading fare, these will hit the spot.
The first of four books that comprise a new series of folktales for emerging readers.
Readers familiar with The Barefoot Book of Monsters will know these stories, though the tales are off the beaten track for most casual readers. Abridged from the 2003 collection, these new paperback volumes are for newly independent readers, with simpler language, ample font, plenty of bright acrylic illustrations and even a very easy speech bubble here and there to help children along. In this inaugural volume, the ailing king learns that "[o]nly a magic feather from the ogre's back can cure" him, so he offers a reward—his youngest daughter's hand in marriage and half the kingdom—to whoever brings him the magic feather. In the great commoner-makes-good tradition, gardener Pirolo sets off on the quest (despite his distaste for the Princess). With a little assistance and some trickery, he succeeds, in an adventure that emphasizes laughs over chills. Other books in the series include The Mother of Monsters, The Abominable Snowman and The Terrible Chenoo. Because each story has the same style of illustration, it’s hard to visually differentiate the settings—the people all look the same except for their skin tone. Luckily, each monster is quite different from the others, and it’s the monsters that will captivate the attention. Though the copyright page holds some information about the origins of the particular stories, more complete backmatter would have helped place these lesser-known tales in better context for these new readers who will be meeting these beasts for the first time. A short bibliography of related stories would also have added much to this repackaging.
Still, for beginning readers yearning for fantastic alternatives in their reading fare, these will hit the spot. (Early reader/folktale. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84686-562-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Kid-friendly dark humor.
The chicken crosses the road…and arrives on the other side as a ghost.
The action kicks off before the title page when the chicken crossing the road winds up a splatter of feathers against the grille of a tractor trailer. When its ghost rises from the squished remains, it meets a host of other animal ghosts that encourage the new poultrygeist to start getting scary. They probably didn’t realize, however, that they’d be the ones to be frightened. Geron’s text is full of punny lines like “It’s time to get foul, fowl!” and “Ghosts of a feather haunt together!” Midway through, the poultrygeist turns to readers to make sure they’re not too scared. This is a nice touch, maintaining engagement while also giving more timid readers time to take a beat. Oswald’s illustrations display masterful use of color, with bright, ghostly animals against a dark, often all-black background, the dialogue shown in colors that correspond to the speakers. These ghosts do become scary but not enough to completely terrorize readers. Oswald’s skill is seen in full effect, as readers witness only the animal ghosts’ reactions to the poultrygeist’s scariest face, building suspense for the full reveal. This book is just right for kids easing into the slightly scary and macabre but who still want a safe and fun read.
Kid-friendly dark humor. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1050-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Series fans won’t be disappointed, but young readers and listeners who know only the original ditty may find this a touch...
Having eaten pretty much everything on land in 13 previous versions of the classic song, Colandro’s capaciously stomached oldster goes to sea.
Once again the original cumulative rhyme’s naturalistic aspects are dispensed with, so that not only doesn’t the old lady die, but neither do any of the creatures she consumes. Instead, the titular shark “left no mark,” a squid follows down the hatch to “float with the shark,” a fish to “dance with the squid,” an eel to “brighten the fish” (with “fluorescent light!” as a subsequent line explains), and so on—until at the end it’s revealed to be all pretending anyway on a visit to an aquarium. Likewise, though Lee outfits the bespectacled binge-eater with a finny tail and the requisite bra for most of the extended episode, she regains human feet and garb at the end. In the illustrations, the old lady and one of the two children who accompany her are pink-skinned; the other has frizzy hair and an amber complexion. A set of nature notes on the featured victims and a nautical seek-and-find that will send viewers back to the earlier pictures modestly enhance this latest iteration.
Series fans won’t be disappointed, but young readers and listeners who know only the original ditty may find this a touch bland. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-12993-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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