by Pam Pollack & Meg Belviso & illustrated by Randy DuBurke ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2004
Three intrepid trick-or-treaters attend a party at the last house on Shivermore Street, where every hour, masked partygoers take part in a different ghoulishly fun activity. At seven they eat grisly treats. At eight the witches play musical chairs. At nine the vampires carve scary pumpkins, etc. At midnight they limbo with mummies until the clock strikes 13 and unmasking reveals everyone but our threesome are monsters underneath too! Pollack and Belviso have created a spooky, rhyming counting book that will make a fine addition to holiday collections. DuBurke’s saturated, full-bleed acrylic-and-ink illustrations are dynamic, engaging, and full of creepy (but not too creepy) detail. A Halloween tale with verve and a good sense of humor. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8118-3946-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2004
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More by Eve Merriam
BOOK REVIEW
by Eve Merriam & Pam Pollack & illustrated by Joanna Harrison
by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2017
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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More In The Series
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
More by Adam Wallace
BOOK REVIEW
by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Christopher Nielsen
BOOK REVIEW
by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
BOOK REVIEW
by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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More by Karma Wilson
BOOK REVIEW
by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by AG Ford
BOOK REVIEW
by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman
BOOK REVIEW
by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman
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