An excellent read for little ones learning about the holiday as well as those who can’t wait for Halloween to arrive.
Bizzy Bear attends a Halloween party.
Bizzy Bear enters a spooky house on Halloween night. As the friendly critter follows a dog butler through the house, readers are able to slide panels that make portraits’ eyes move, bats and animal witches fly outside, doors open and close, and more. The story ends in the attic, where a Halloween bash is in full swing. The illustrations eschew the Bizzy Bear books’ usual bright primary color palette and swap in dark purples, greens, and oranges. The comfortably rounded Bizzy Bear character stylings are still there, but the backgrounds incorporate harsh angles in their compositions to make the environment all the spookier. The sliding panels and tabs are sturdily constructed, resistant to even the harshest tugs from spooked toddlers. The shifting environments are particularly creative, drawing little readers into the creepy environment but still keeping this fun instead of truly scary.
An excellent read for little ones learning about the holiday as well as those who can’t wait for Halloween to arrive. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9327-5
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Predictable text, a slight storyline, and cutouts that toddlers will use to turn the pages make this an acceptable...
Six bug-eyed, smiling iconic Halloween characters are startled by mysterious shouts of “Boo!” but little ones won't be fazed.
Beginning with “Night owl, night owl, was that you? / Were you the one who shouted BOO?” the same question is repeated on each page, substituting the name of the Halloween symbol pictured. Young readers will soon know the response: “It wasn't me!” The eyes of the owl, cat, pumpkin, witch, spider, and wizard are nesting, die-cut holes of decreasing size. The character from the previous page is included on each double-page spread, providing visual continuity. The next-to-last spread shows all six characters worriedly asking, “Who's hiding out there in the night?” The final page turn reveals the obvious answer: “It's a ghost!” The placement of the word “Boo” changes on each page, which may confuse toddlers who learn to anticipate text through its consistent appearance. Despite the bright, almost garish illustrations in purple, black, orange, green, blue, and pink, the perennially smiling characters are static and flat; both witch and wizard are Caucasian.
Predictable text, a slight storyline, and cutouts that toddlers will use to turn the pages make this an acceptable introduction to the fun of Halloween. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68010-501-8
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
A trio of monsters enjoy Halloween festivities in this pumpkin-shaped board-book offering.
A fuzzy blue critter with horns, accompanied by a purple dinosaurlike creature and yellow beastie with pigtails, selects a pumpkin from a patch, carves it and takes it to a jack-o’-lantern contest. The rhyming text, with one line per page, is forced and doesn’t scan: “Pumpkin, pumpkin, big and steady, / Costumes and carving, time to get ready!” While the three central characters are appropriately toddler-friendly, monsters dressing up for Halloween is a bit of a conceptual stretch. The shiny orange foil cover and the bright orange pumpkins within are eye-catching, but the rest of the palette—pale blues, greens, grays and browns—causes some of the characters to fade into the scenery in Marts’ quirky cartoons. This slight slice of pumpkin pie will tempt few little trick-or-treaters. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)
Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-49332-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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