by Hilary McKay & illustrated by Amanda Harvey ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2005
McKay and Harvey offer a resolution both comforting and logical to the perennial issue of noises in the night. Every night, Sophie hears a dragon “Rattling through the cat flap. Slinking to the living room. Growing and growing in the dark.” But by the time she stumbles down, dressed in cardboard armor, carrying a “pump-action supersonic water squirter,” or dressed in her princess outfit, the room is empty. Using scribbly pencil strokes to create shadows in rooms decorated with a large and scattered collection of plush dinosaurs, Harvey depicts Sophie as a small figure in which anxiety and resolution are clearly mixed; when at last the child sneaks down quietly in her pj’s, she discovers that there really is a “dragon”—of the feline variety. This import’s repeating structure and cozy close make it a natural for reading aloud, at bedtime or any other. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86774-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2005
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by Chris Monroe ; illustrated by Chris Monroe ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Plainly the beginning of a beautiful, if ouchy, friendship.
A new friendship goes through some literal growing pains in this woodland episode.
Strawberry the peaceable sasquatch is used to a solitary life of “alone things” like taking walks and making portrait collages of hairy relatives from seeds and berries, but she decides to take up an offer from Nutty the squirrel to hang out together. Little does she suspect that her impulsive buddy’s fondness for climbing, messy pranks, and “snack sneaking” (say that three times) will lead to her falling from an outhouse roof and several trees, not to mention narrow escapes from an irate brown-skinned lumberjack and a marshmallow-baited trap set by “Squatch Watchers.” Next day, scratched and bandaged, Strawberry proposes that the two just watch clouds and maybe make a selfie collage…which suits the similarly battered, still-sticky squirrel just fine. To underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone, Monroe kits out her shaggy cryptid (who, if only about the face, resembles her Monkey With a Toolbelt) with pink slippers and a shopping basket, comically exaggerates the size difference between her two furry friends, and just for fun has them assemble some oddly familiar looking artworks as sight gags. Divided into panels, with characters communicating in speech bubbles, the book has an appealing graphic-novel vibe. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Plainly the beginning of a beautiful, if ouchy, friendship. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781728404660
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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by Chani McBain ; illustrated by Kirsteen Harris-Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2013
A bit of monster hunting, contrived of plot but predictable of outcome and too bland to be scary.
A young dinosaur lover’s dream comes true when he visits his Loch Ness grandmother.
Finlay’s gran claims to have seen the monster—even to have fed it shortbread. Trailed by a big sister sporting both earbuds and a skeptical attitude, he “spots” Nessie everywhere: in a local business’ sign; in an inflatable toy monster left at the loch’s shore; a “head” that turns out to be a research submarine’s periscope; and a long, spooky shadow from (adding a surreal note) a construction crane that rolls out of the woods. Ultimately, of course, when Finlay declares that there is no monster and angrily chucks a handful of Gran’s shortbread into the water, up rises a green monster reminiscent of what Steven Kellogg’s eponymous Mysterious Tadpole (1977) grew into. The older figures in Harris-Jones’ bright cartoon illustrations mostly just stand around in static poses and watch as Finlay goes from high excitement to drooping disappointment—but the lake and the green, rolling hills all around give the quest and encounter an idyllic setting.
A bit of monster hunting, contrived of plot but predictable of outcome and too bland to be scary. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-86315-953-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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