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HIDING MONSTERS

While it may make readers wonder just what's the point of having such utterly cuddly monsters, the app is still fun and...

Cuddly, agreeable versions of mythical monsters wait to be found in this breezy exploration book from the author, illustrator and developers behind Hiding Hannah (2011).

As in their previous app, the story employs a simple structure: Touch objects on screen to discover where someone is hiding; repeat in a different environment. In Hiding Hannah, a giggly toddler exasperated her parents by playing an ongoing game of hide-and-seek. In this app, the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, a dragon, the Abominable Snowman and others can be found in their native lands—after a hunt. When they're discovered, surprisingly enough, they don't bloodily maul readers. Instead, they wave and say hello, as they've been systematically defanged for young readers. The hulking Yeti, for instance, has an awfully toothless nickname: Bommy. If the app lacks some of the spark of originality and easy humor of its predecessor, it makes up for it in the same kind of attention to detail and playful art that made the previous effort so successful. The backgrounds, including a Japanese city and the top of a gargoyle-guarded tower, are exotic but never scary or uninviting.

While it may make readers wonder just what's the point of having such utterly cuddly monsters, the app is still fun and snappily put together. (iPad storybook app. 3-7)

Pub Date: July 12, 2012

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Squeaky Frog

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012

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HOW TO CATCH SANTA CLAUS

From the How To Catch… series

Cookie-cutter predictability.

After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?

Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023

ISBN: 9781728274270

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland

Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

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