A calmly surreal invitation to explore.
Mrs. Mo’s Monster (2014), he of the snaggly teeth, spiky blue fur, and lolling pink tongue, is still in the attic.
As the book begins, Mr. and Mrs. Mo are painting the outside of their house from white to red and so cannot amuse the monster, who announces that he’s “off to see the world.” He sets out carrying a good deal of the stuff from the attic, refusing Mrs. Mo’s offer to make him a sandwich. As he goes along, however, he gets lost in a sea of obstacles to navigate and begins to have a meltdown—but Mrs. Mo turns up, with the sandwich and a few more things from home. It all resolves in a satisfying way: the monster gets to see a view of his whole world (and so does the intrepid Mrs. Mo), and Mr. Mo, painting complete, just sort of scratches his bald head in bemusement. The monster definitely has the toddler ethos down pat, and the white-haired Mo couple is quite good at responding to it. The art is done in clear blocks of color and shape, and children of all ages will be amused by what the monster chooses to take along and leave behind of the cozy detritus (tea kettle, golf clubs, globe, etc.) in the attic.
A calmly surreal invitation to explore. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-9272-7198-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Chilling in the best ways.
When a young rabbit who’s struggling in school finds a helpful crayon, everything is suddenly perfect—until it isn’t.
Jasper is flunking everything except art and is desperate for help when he finds the crayon. “Purple. Pointy…perfect”—and alive. When Jasper watches TV instead of studying, he misspells every word on his spelling test, but the crayon seems to know the answers, and when he uses the crayon to write, he can spell them all. When he faces a math quiz after skipping his homework, the crayon aces it for him. Jasper is only a little creeped out until the crayon changes his art—the one area where Jasper excels—into something better. As guilt-ridden Jasper receives accolade after accolade for grades and work that aren’t his, the crayon becomes more and more possessive of Jasper’s attention and affection, and it is only when Jasper cannot take it anymore that he discovers just what he’s gotten himself into. Reynolds’ text might as well be a Rod Serling monologue for its perfectly paced foreboding and unsettling tension, both gentled by lightly ominous humor. Brown goes all in to match with a grayscale palette for everything but the purple crayon—a callback to black-and-white sci-fi thrillers as much as a visual cue for nascent horror readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Chilling in the best ways. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6588-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A spellbinding tale that encourages readers to accept—and celebrate—what makes us different.
A bespectacled young witch longs for a cat but ends up with something unexpected.
Though Wilma is excited for her first feline pet, when she goes to the Beast Buddies Pet Shop there are no more cats; instead, she is offered a wombat. She begrudgingly takes the dumpy, snoozy chum but worries: “Everyone else brings cats to school. Cats have been friends to witches for centuries. What a cat-tastrophe!” Unfortunately, Wombat is afraid of heights, which makes mastering Broom-Flying Basics a challenge; can’t perch on the edge of a cauldron during Brewing Potions for Beginners; and doesn’t stay in the required spell boundary zone, causing a spell to go disastrously wrong. Wilma is so frustrated she wishes Wombat would disappear. And Wombat does just that—by burrowing deep into the ground. Sprinkled with wombat facts (Wilma’s remembering that wombat scat is cube-shaped helps her follow a trail of poop to find her pal), this is a winning testament to true friendship. Wilma sets aside her assumptions of what a witch’s companion should look like and realizes just how wonderful Wombat truly is. This is a not-so-spooky tale perfect for Halloween and beyond. Wilma has bluish-black hair and pale skin among a diverse class. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A spellbinding tale that encourages readers to accept—and celebrate—what makes us different. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 4, 2023
ISBN: 9780593569634
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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