Extreme brattiness meets extreme witchiness in this merrily plotted tale.
A posthumously published story of spoiled children and malicious crafting.
Meet Ivy Lou, a spirited child, to say the least. Blessed with two overly indulgent parents who cave to her every whim, Ivy Lou has perfected three different levels of tantrum to get everything she wants. Kassirer incorporates deliciously chosen details as she describes Ivy Lou’s notoriously naughty behavior—from shrieking loudly to threatening to turn herself inside out. But then, in walks a witch with a green face, a pointed hat, and a pair of knitting needles. Before long she has knit Ivy Lou’s parents out of existence, and the girl is recruited to learn to become a proper witch’s child. Unfortunately, Ivy Lou is terrible at it and eventually is ordered to knit a cloak by midnight or be turned into a tiny porcelain pig. Discovered in a pile of manuscripts after the author’s death, this title contains many elements of older children’s books, harkening to the days of Roald Dahl’s work and Betty MacDonald’s Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series. Richardson’s loose, stylistic illustrations capture Ivy Lou’s most horrid moments, alongside the gleefully diabolical expressions of the witch. While the narrative is old-fashioned in look and feel, the storyline’s moralism has a charm that tempers some of the more dated elements. The main characters present white, while group scenes include people of different skin tones.
Extreme brattiness meets extreme witchiness in this merrily plotted tale. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781685552251
Page Count: 88
Publisher: The Collective Book Studio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Approachable and comfortably predictable.
A young ghost arrives at Scare School.
Unlike big sister Bella, late bloomer Bash has never been good at “all the GHOST STUFF.” Dad’s sure that Scare School is just what Bash needs. Bash isn’t so certain; he’s intimidated by his classmates and teachers. But he perks up when he meets his roommate, Itsy, a smart, welcoming spider, though he vows to steer clear of mean-spirited Vlad and Vicky. Still, the dreaded Creature Aptitude Test worries Bash. To pass, he must pass through solid objects and turn himself invisible—skills he struggles with. Bash doesn’t want to be kicked out of school, so he’ll have to buckle down. With Itsy’s help and encouragement from his classmates, Bash realizes he’s more capable than he thought. Written in first person from endearingly anxious Bash’s point of view, the book has a diarylike feel. The text is presented in a handwritten font, while grayscale cartoon illustrations are peppered throughout. The supportive, sincere friendship between Bash and Itsy is the most compelling part of the story. Letters between Bash and Bella shed further light on Bash’s personality and their relationship. Though the book’s takeaway—believe in yourself, and you can do anything—is a familiar one, it’s just what many children need…and who better to deliver the message than an adorably nervous ghost?
Approachable and comfortably predictable. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665922098
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
A close encounter of the best kind.
Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.
While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.
A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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