Simplified spooks for the we-want-it-just-scary-enough crowd.
A series debut with five screamworthy short stories.
Acquired from a strange box left at pseudo-author Mr. Shivers’ doorstep, the tales are initially introduced via a note to readers. Presented in a mix of first- and third-person narration, the tales run the gamut of eerie episodes. Classmates dare siblings John and Beth to visit a haunted house at night. A child feels a hair in the bottom of their stomach. A creepy statue draped with a tattered quilt haunts a living room. Oliver leaves his toys outside in the rain, but when he looks outside they’ve moved. Lucy hears scraping at the window at night, but mom and dad say it’s just a tree. Brallier’s (The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond, 2018, etc.) strong horror chops translate well into this Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark–lite package for early chapter-book readers. Rubegni mixes high-contrast spot and full-page illustrations, positioning sharply outlined characters against smudgy charcoal backgrounds. The atmospheric, full-color illustrations also aid in decoding. Each page contains fewer than 10 sentences; longer sentences are broken up in multiple lines with ample leading. Occasional words are set in boldface for emphasis and add a little extra thrill factor to the well-paced plots. The final page includes instructions on how to draw Oliver’s teddy bear as well as a few simple creative prompts.
Simplified spooks for the we-want-it-just-scary-enough crowd. (Early reader/horror. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31853-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Acorn/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
This title could be a fit for those kids whose imaginations occasionally run amok or those whose memories of actual events...
A boy is horrified as his older brother collects increasing numbers of scary and creepy creatures—and brings them all in the house!
Nesbitt delivers this overlong cumulative tale in a series of rhyming couplets. The awestruck younger brother narrates. “It happened just last Halloween, / the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen: / My brother went out after dark / and found a monster in the park.” Soon two hairy spiders, three rats, four toads, five black cats, and so on have invaded their house. The younger brother repeats, “I hope our parents don’t find out,” at the end of each new iteration. The text describes the mayhem that ensues while Slonim has fun giving the various animals hilarious expressions with his cartoon illustrations. Finally the dreaded moment comes when the parents arrive. But instead of gruesome unwanted visitors, there is a menagerie of more welcome inhabitants, including caterpillars, butterflies, geckos, kittens, and gerbils. The original monster that started the story is “a shaggy dog, just big and hairy.” The story takes yet another surprise twist after this one, and with few clues as to its internal logic, readers may find themselves scratching their heads.
This title could be a fit for those kids whose imaginations occasionally run amok or those whose memories of actual events get wildly embellished. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-65059-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amusing, colorful illustrations, interesting information, and a high-interest theme enliven a pedestrian text.
Repetitive verses count down from five to none as playful mermaids each chase after a different sea creature in the five named bodies that make up the global ocean.
The book starts: “Five little mermaids / Went swimming in the sea / to the Atlantic Ocean / To see what they could see. / Maria joined a school of fish / And swam away carefree. Whoosh! / Now there were….” Maria has curly brown hair and freckles and light skin. Makaiya has long brown hair and light brown skin and meets a turtle in the Indian Ocean. Ming, with straight black hair and what are meant to be Asian features, “high-fived a penguin” in the Southern Ocean. Marley, with bright curly red hair, a ruddy complexion, and big red glasses, follows a giant squid in the Pacific Ocean. Finally, Maya, with dark brown skin and dark hair in Afro puffs, swims after an orange lion’s mane jellyfish, a showy species surprisingly found in the Arctic Ocean. After a double-page spread that depicts an underwater castle, coral, sea anemones, fish, and other sea creatures, a page turn reveals all kinds of merfolk having a party to welcome the five after their travels. Coral-reef–bright illustrations are vivid and fanciful, with comical mermaids cavorting in the sea, and varied compositions help sustain interest, with the giant squid starring in one of the most dramatic spreads. Following the story, three spreads detail information about the folklore of merpeople, the oceans (with generalized location maps), and the five creatures highlighted and the depths to which they can swim. The music for the undistinguished verses is included, as is a CD with audio and video (not seen).
Amusing, colorful illustrations, interesting information, and a high-interest theme enliven a pedestrian text. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78285-831-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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