Best read beneath a gibbous moon to truly make your intended audience howl…with laughter.
Werewolf? There wolf!
Typically, kids don’t get all that excited when they receive underwear for their birthdays, but when Uncle Larry sends the book’s young narrator a strange pair of undies, our hero skips the warning label (something about not donning them during a full moon) and slips them on. Almost instantly the child begins to transform, becoming a creature of the night that’s “hairier than a hundred hamsters.” Hijinks ensue, and soon the youngster is running with a pack of wolves, making it home just before the sun rises. The book ends with a vow never to wear those undies again, “until the next full moon.” Sterer leans hard into the funniest aspects of wearing transformative underpants. Three times the kid considers removing the undies only to realize that “I would have been butt naked” in increasingly visible and ridiculous situations. Santoso’s visual gags aid in the hilarity, varying from the subtle (the child peering up at a huge moon that couldn’t be rounder, thinking, “The moon didn’t look too full to me”) to (naturally) werewolf wedgies. Pair this tale with that fellow spooky, funny, tighty-whities-themed picture book Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown (2017). The protagonist and the rest of the family are pale-skinned and dark-haired.
Best read beneath a gibbous moon to truly make your intended audience howl…with laughter. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9781665955584
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Delightful wordplay and spooky artwork combine for hair-raising shivers.
A swarm of spooky bees come out on Halloween.
An intrepid pale-skinned youngster wearing a crooked witch hat and a cape investigates an eerie buzzing sound echoing from a graveyard. Suddenly, ghoulish green bees appear from behind the tombs. “One by one, their shadows rise, / Taking flight toward moonlight skies.” They are… “ZOMBEES!” With stitched-up wounds and tattered clothes and in varying states of decay, the bees moan and groan as they approach. “Do they like the taste of veins?” the protagonist wonders. “Have they come to EAT YOUR BRAINS?” The witchy tot runs to the library for help. Soon after, beekeepers armed with protective suits and smokers come to save the town. But when the zombees have an unexpected “ooky spooky” treat for the townspeople, the mood shifts, and everyone’s mindset changes—yes, even undead bees have sweet treasures worth savoring. Packed with lively rhymes begging to be read aloud with heightened dramatic flair, the zombees are simultaneously terrifying and adorable. Pops of neon green shine bright against the dark Halloween sky. Storytellers who lean into the spine-chilling fun by slowing the pace and stretching out syllables will surely elicit frightened squeals in response.
Delightful wordplay and spooky artwork combine for hair-raising shivers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665922500
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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