While there are clever visuals and excellent cartoon-villain laughter, this book fails to deliver a satisfying story.
This Belgian picture-book debut introduces a boy who loves to swing, his father, and a monster.
Readers first see the white duo bundled in hats and long scarves. Then the father disappears, and the focus shifts to the swinging child and the (initially offstage) titular monster: it smells “of sprouts and old slippers,” and it likes to eat children. The limited palette for the woodland images and backgrounds features mint green, orange, black, white, and tan. Each spread is carefully coordinated, and pattern trumps perspective. The narrative and image placement are sometimes disjointed or confusing, as when two separate domiciles are mentioned in the text but only one is depicted. A little further on, the text on a double-page spread is merely a repetitive list—a search-and-find. The monster enters as a shadow, his long, wavy arms grasping at the swinging child. The boy keeps laughing as the creature repeatedly howls a longer version of the titular nonsense word—a humorous sound to produce—to no avail. In a perplexing penultimate scene, the monster returns home, embarrassed at having failed to frighten the child. (Showing an actual creature is inconsistent with prior treatment and the gag). Father and son leave, anticlimactically, casting scarf shadows that resemble outstretched arms.
While there are clever visuals and excellent cartoon-villain laughter, this book fails to deliver a satisfying story. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77138-566-4
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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
A light touch delivers an increasingly common but important message.
As her name suggests, Itty Bitty Betty Blob is a small, amorphous monster, but that’s not what sets her apart.
It’s Betty’s cheerful demeanor that makes her different from her peers. What kind of monster “rejoice[s] at rainbows” and “dance[s] among the dandelions”? Betty’s pink hue also distinguishes her from her classmates, who are rendered in a black-and-white palette, and makes her stand out in her rather somber, expressionistic setting. Brief, alliterative sentences keep the pages turning as readers learn about her trouble fitting in at school: While the other students faithfully reproduce a still life of dead flowers on a table, hers is a vibrant image of a living, yellow daisy. The crisis comes to a head on picture day. Despite the dreadful outfit her mother selects, Betty can’t grimace fiercely enough. As she travels through the spooky forest to school, the diminutive monster is distracted by a pink puff. Following it, she encounters an entire fluffy community that encourages her to be true to herself. Her frightful frock becomes an extravaganza of flowers. The climax involves a mood transformation for the entire class as puffs emerge from Betty’s dress, tickling everyone as the flash goes off. Children will enjoy the humor in the reversal of expectations around classroom culture—and will be heartened by Betty’s willingness to embrace what makes her different—although subsequent readings don’t yield much more.
A light touch delivers an increasingly common but important message. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781662640148
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hippo Park/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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