Fun, forsooth.
A skeleton yearns to find a friend.
In this middle-grade graphic novel by a father-daughter duo, an interred skeleton awakens after an unnamed magical item lands near its resting place, leaching power into the ground. Speaking in appropriately Shakespearean language, Yorick proclaims: “Alack, there is but one thing I desire. / A friend.” Shortly thereafter, the skeleton is exhumed by an adorable gray dog who wants to nibble his tibia (to which Yorick protests, “Oh biteth not me so, thou foul beast!”). Yorick attempts to shoo the dog away but reconsiders, hoping its canine cuteness will help win him some friends. After a handful of bumbling, failed attempts send humans running away screaming, Yorick gives up. But Bones the dog wordlessly (though not always silently) shows the loquacious skeleton that a real friend is closer than he may have realized. Told in a three-act structure, the Tankards’ debut collaboration is a delightfully quirky and lively introduction to Shakespearean conventions and iambic pentameter. Pairing the Elizabethan-era vernacular with visuals works well, and once they become accustomed to the syntax, those unfamiliar with the Bard will be able to enjoy this tale of seeking acceptance and friendship. Jeremy Tankard’s full-color panels blaze vibrantly, defined with heavy black outlines that give this an easily recognizable panache. The few humans that Yorick and Bones encounter present with a range of skin tones.
Fun, forsooth. (Graphic fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-285430-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Aimed straight at proto-Goosebumps fans, this formulaic series opener pits two 9-year-olds against a great white shark with legs. Having lost his bike in a lake thanks to the latest hare-brained scheme of his impulsive cousin Henry, bookish Keats reluctantly agrees to finance a replacement by earning some money taking on odd jobs at a spooky local mansion. The prosaic task of weeding the garden quickly turns into an extended flight through a series of magical rooms after a shark monster rises out of the ground and gives chase. Dashing from one narrow squeak to the next, the lads encounter a kitchen with an invisible "sink," a giant vomiting bookworm in the library, a carpet pattern in the hall that (literally) bites and, most usefully, a magic wand that they get to keep (setting up future episodes) after spelling the monster away. Tilted points of view give the occasional illustrations more energy than the labored plot ever musters, and the characters rarely show even two dimensions. Fledgling readers will do better in the hands of Jim Benton’s Franny K. Stein series or Bruce and Katherine Coville’s Moongobble and Me books. (Horror. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-86675-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
A warm play on the theme of inclusivity, with horrors more huggable than otherwise.
A sheltered young monster discovers that the world isn’t as hostile to her kind as she had been led to believe.
Readers who like their monsters cute as well as scary are in for a treat, as Davault fills her panels and montages with the (mostly) humanoid but variously horned, clawed, fanged, and multiheaded inhabitants of Mr. Halloway’s Home for Horrors. They possess expressive faces, stylishly disarranged bangs (or, as the case may be, tentacles), and distinctly childlike ways. Blue-skinned, tufty-tailed Iris has always been told by (human) Mr. Halloway that he is protecting her and her fellow creatures in his isolated manor house from being hunted down. But when she takes advantage of a rare chance to venture into nearby Dead End Springs, she gets a warm welcome—from everyone except Mathias, an orphan raised by his traumatized aunt to believe that monsters are dangerous. Some actually are, it turns out…but after the frightening dolls one horror creates sell like hotcakes to the delighted locals and Iris’ companions help to save the town from an escaped dreamon who has turned into a nightmare, even Mathias comes around. Better yet, Iris emerges with her yearning to belong to a family fulfilled by the discovery that she has really been living with one all along, and she joins her housemates in turning the mansion into a monster hotel.
A warm play on the theme of inclusivity, with horrors more huggable than otherwise. (author’s note, concept art) (Graphic fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781665903080
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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