Misses the mark for the intended audience.
A Tahitian tale of a monstrous mother.
Rona Long-Teeth loves her daughter, Hina, dearly. She keeps her skin moisturized, combs her hair until it shines like water and feeds her the best food so she will grow up strong and healthy. Though Rona cares for her daughter, she “[feels] nothing for the people on the island.” In the evenings, while Hina sleeps, Rona makes late-night visits to the huts in her village to eat the juiciest young humans. Hina is completely unaware of her mother’s monstrous tendencies until she befriends a young man named Monoi, who falls in love with her and tells her the truth. Undertones of the Rapunzel story run deep here, but understatement is the order of the day. “Hina had no idea that Rona Long-Teeth ate human beings. She was very upset.” This story, told in five chapters, gallops on to its stunning conclusion: Tricking the murdering mother, the village chief kills her before she can kill her own daughter. Vivid acrylic paintings and amusing speech bubbles unsuccessfully attempt to make light of the violence. The recurring theme of cannibalism and the image of the mother, with her huge, toothy mouth and fanglike beads on her shirt, about to eat her own daughter are a bit rough in a book for emerging readers.
Misses the mark for the intended audience. (sources) (Folktale/early reader. 6-10)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-84686-908-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair.
Fifth graders get into a hairy situation.
After an unnamed narrator’s full-page warning, readers dive right into a Wolver Hollow classroom. Mr. Noffler recounts the town legend about how, every Oct. 19, residents don fake mustaches and lock their doors. As the story goes, the late Bockius Beauregard was vaporized in an “unfortunate black powder incident,” but, somehow, his “magnificent mustache” survived to haunt the town. Once a year, the spectral ’stache searches for an exposed upper lip to rest upon. Is it real or superstition? Students Parker and Lucas—sole members of the Midnight Owl Detective Agency—decide to take the case and solve the mustache mystery. When they find that the book of legends they need for their research has been checked out from the library, they recruit the borrower: goth classmate Samantha von Oppelstein. Will the three of them be enough to take on the mustache and resolve its ghostly, unfinished business? Whether through ridiculous plot points or over-the-top descriptions, the comedy keeps coming in this first title in McGee’s new Night Frights series. A generous font and spacing make this quick-paced, 13-chapter story appealing to newly confident readers. Skaffa’s grayscale cartoon spot (and occasional full-page) illustrations help set the tone and accentuate the action. Though neither race or skin color is described in the text, images show Lucas and Samantha as light-skinned and Parker as dark-skinned.
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair. (maps) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8089-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Disconcerting and possibly deadly dealings are afoot; certain to charm younger fans of the macabre.
In the latest installment of the delightfully disturbing chapter-book series, the mundane once more takes on supernatural qualities, this time in the form of veggies.
With this follow-up to Troubling Tonsils! (2025), our host, Jasper Rabbit, once more channels Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling. As Jasper narrates, we meet our heroes: fourth graders Thaddeus Badger and Oliver Possum, who love nothing more than eating junk food, particularly the hamburgers at Hurt-A-Burger (a mildly brilliant corporate name on the author’s part). When Oliver’s parents trick the two into a dinner of salads at their favorite fast-food joint, Thaddeus feels betrayed, but Oliver experiences something a little more dire. Soon after, Oliver starts acting strangely, and his parents begin behaving even more oddly. What’s going on? And does it have anything to do with the full moon? Tone is the true star of the show in this series; the mystery unspools thanks to the buildup of unnerving moments. Reynolds combines suspense with a keen ability to artistically frame both sunny innocent sequences and those rich with dark foreboding. Notably, this is no morality tale about eating your vegetables—this tale is fully on the side of its child readers. Brown’s black-and-white images, punctuated with eerie pops of green, heighten both horrifying and comedic moments.
Disconcerting and possibly deadly dealings are afoot; certain to charm younger fans of the macabre. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781665961110
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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