A healthy spoonful of creepiness softened by the charming weakness of the characters.
A self-important witch who haunts a small village gets her comeuppance—and her revenge, too.
Naailde is a scrofulous, mischievous character of international repute in the world of witches—she can transform into 1,897 different hideous monsters—who lives in a mansion infested with all manner of infernal creatures, “in a dark and horrifying forest.” An elegant gentleman comes knocking at her door one eve and asks to spend the night—a red flag Naailde misses in her eagerness to scare his pants off. All to no avail; the dandy will have none of her most wily and gruesome guises. He even criticizes her technique. What’s more, he—now revealed as “a” devil—sends her packing...until she returns as a she-devil, though she’ll always be Naailde underneath. This app is long enough to provide a wealth of textual and visual narration, giving it unusual depth. The text is narrated by a voice that verges on the eerie, and the lightly animated, sketchlike artwork is an artful mare’s nest of black linework, though red and purple color starts to leak in with the arrival of the guest. The story comes to an ambiguous close, leaving readers to wonder if the red and purple ribbons of smoke coming from the chimney are a sign of togetherness or immolation.
A healthy spoonful of creepiness softened by the charming weakness of the characters. (Requires iOS 6 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Ivan Annibali
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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