Young ones will want to join in on this monster romp again and again, since it is all so silly, comforting and familiar.
The menagerie of monsters from Yolen and Murphy’s previous pairing (Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters, 2011) returns for an adventure at the playground.
All sorts and sizes of monsters gather at Creepy Commons to have some fun. The author uses two- or three-word phrases to build a steady rhyming text describing the full range of activities taking place. “Monsters stretch. / Monsters twirl. // Monsters catch. / Monsters hurl. // Monsters tumble, / Run, and lope. / Monsters jump / A monster rope.” The cadence will be soothing to young ears, leaving the eyes of toddlers and preschoolers to discover the playful details found throughout the soft-hued illustrations painted in oil, acrylic and gel. This diverse bunch is cute and cuddly without coming across as overly sweet. Some have four eyeballs, and some have only one. Pointy horns and handlike hair sprout from curious places on this happily rambunctious crew. Big and small, young and old—all cavort on slides and swings. Occasionally, there is a mishap—“Monsters in / Three-legged races / Fall upon / Their Monster faces”—but it is nothing a “monster-sicle” treat cannot fix.
Young ones will want to join in on this monster romp again and again, since it is all so silly, comforting and familiar. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5727-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
A spooky house tour, unafraid to redefine what board books are capable of achieving.
Preschoolers, get ready for your first official ghost story.
“There is nobody in this house. There used to be somebody. But there is nobody now.” But is that true? As readers turn the pages of this board book, they pass through an array of rooms. In one, a ghost stands clearly to one side, the unseen narrator pointedly making no mention of it. As the narrative progressives, the ghost continues to peep from within (revealed through cleverly placed die-cuts), never acknowledged, always watching. The effect is both amusing and unnerving—in other words, classic Klassen. For some youngsters, the narrator’s refusal to mention the ghost will be a source of humor (and a chance to yell at the book). For others, it will be just the right amount of creepy, perhaps causing some to question whether a ghost truly is “nobody” at all. To set the mood, Klassen relies heavily on color; the first few rooms are brightly lit in the sun’s rays, but the home grows dimmer as readers proceed. Treating the book itself as a physical location begging to be explored (it’s even shaped like a house), Klassen extends the format beyond its usual limitations, allowing a short story of surprising depth to emerge.
A spooky house tour, unafraid to redefine what board books are capable of achieving. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781536248289
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
The history of music is a big topic, and more-nuanced explanation is needed than the format allows.
This ambitious board book aims to promote an eclectic appreciation for music of all kinds.
Music, from drumming to computer-generated sound, is introduced as a linear historical sequence with two pages devoted to each of 11 styles, including medieval European, orchestral, blues, and more. Most of the musicians are portrayed as children, many with darker skin tones and with hairstyles and garb commonly associated with each type of music. Radford works in a retro cartoon mode, varying his presentation slightly with each new musical style but including a dancing dachshund on almost every spread, presumably to enhance child appeal. Unfortunately, the book just can’t succeed in reducing such a wide range of musical styles to toddler-appropriate language. The first two spreads read: “We start with clapping, tapping, and drums. // Lutes, flutes, and words are what we become.” The accompanying illustrations show, respectively, half-naked drummers and European court figures reading, writing, and playing a flute. Both spreads feature both brown-skinned and pale-skinned figures. At first reading this seems innocent enough, but the implication that clapping and drumming are somehow less civilized or sophisticated than a European style is reinforced in Stosuy’s glossary of music terms. He describes “Prehistoric Music” as “rhythmic music [made] with rocks, sticks, bones, and…voices,” while “Renaissance Music” is defined as “multiple melodies played at the same time.”
The history of music is a big topic, and more-nuanced explanation is needed than the format allows. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0941-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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