An amusing take on a universal human experience, one that should strike giggling chords among its readers.
At first alarmed by the “beast in her belly,” a little girl eventually makes peace with it in this very short chapter book.
The unnamed narrator of this Polish import is a spunky, bespectacled preschooler who meets with endless frustration as she tries to convince her family about the titular beast. She is so upset that she even forgoes her slice of cake, which causes the beast to make “whimpering sounds like it was sorry.” She works hard to identify the creature—cat? dog? carp?—but all she’s really able to discover is that it seems to like her favorite foods, quieting down with contentment after they eat. Kasdepke’s deadpan text is fluidly translated by Monod-Gayraud, unfurling with a quiet irony that will elicit chuckles from both adults and children. After the beast leads the little girl to the fridge for a midnight snack, “I discovered what a greedy beast it was! It wouldn’t go back to sleep until it had eaten not one, not two, not three, but four sausages!” Koztowski’s expressive illustrations are dominated by oranges and teals, varying layout and placement on the page with controlled whimsy. The “beast” is depicted as an ever present orange circle against the girl’s midriff; scribbly representations of the various creatures she imagines it to be appear in the margins.
An amusing take on a universal human experience, one that should strike giggling chords among its readers. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: July 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59270-160-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
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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
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