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SPELLS TO CAST ON YOUR PARENTS

Name: SPELLS TO CAST ON YOUR PARENTS
Author: Pete Holmes
ISBN: 9798217119035

by Pete Holmes ; illustrated by Pete Holmes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2026

Scales new heights of picture-book meta.

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Comedian Holmes’ first kids’ book involves questionable hocus-pocus.

An unseen adult narrator announces to an unseen child that this book is “a collection of magic words that will make me, your grown-up, do whatever you say. The first step is to—” A black tail interrupts that thought. A turn of the page reveals an unfriendly-looking black dragon named Jesse. Anticipating trouble, the narrator informs Jesse, “This child is a wizard. So there’s no need to breathe fire all over them and burn their little buns to a crisp.” Jesse isn’t having it: “They don’t look like a wizard! They’re too small to have powers!” The narrator tells the child, “Let’s cast a quick spell to prove to Jesse that you’re a wizard.” The spell: “A twist of lemon, a puff of sage, / Make my grown-up TURN THE PAGE! / NAR-DOOF-GA!” Sure enough, the page turns! Jesse’s rebuttal: “Your grown-up was already turning the pages! That wasn’t a spell!” On it entertainingly goes: specious spells, nonsense syllables, and Jesse’s tut-tutting responses. If Holmes’ ambition is to make readers laugh at how ridiculous they sound following the book’s prompts, then he will succeed valiantly. The text and dragon (who is constructed, disarmingly, out of black masking tape) sit on what look like the pages of a yellowed manuscript, as befits the ancient spell book that this is(n’t).

Scales new heights of picture-book meta. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026

ISBN: 9798217119035

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

- PERSPECTIVES
Funny Business: Comedians Writing Children’s Books

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FRANKENKITTY

by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Mini Grey ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2026

A top-grade creepy/funny addition to the spooky-picture-book canon.

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Is a cute kitty built in a castle’s laboratory responsible for the bad things that start happening?

“Here is a tale to chill the blood and thrill the soul—a tale of spooky paws and eerie claws.” The disembodied talking skull who narrates this story is alluding to Frankenkitty, who was engineered out of multiple cats, with visible stitches to show for it. As the house ghouls look on, Frankenkitty’s inventor laments, “I’ve created a monster!” Sure enough, bad things start happening: The mummy begins to unravel. Kitchen mice terrorize the cook. Certainly, Frankenkitty must be to blame. But after the butler, who resembles Frankenstein’s Monster, tosses Frankenkitty outside into the snow, where he looks forlorn and adorable, the skull has second thoughts: “Wait! Did we get it wrong?” It’s up to readers to make the call. Powell-Tuck goes all in with her spoof of old-time horror tropes, although kids needn’t know who Boris Karloff is to be tickled. For the book’s every scare (a severed foot and hand, their bones visible), there’s a wink (in a bit of metafictive fun, the skull urges readers to opt for a story about “unicorns, beasts, or bears”). Grey, a glutton for detail, leans on menacing reds and sickly greens to capture the frights, which include, in a line for the spooky-story ages, “walls as gray as old underpants.” Human characters vary in skin tone.

A top-grade creepy/funny addition to the spooky-picture-book canon. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 7, 2026

ISBN: 9781664300972

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T DO IT, DOUG!
by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Duncan Beedie

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MOONLIGHT ZOO
by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Karl James Mountford

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS STORE
by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Hoang Giang

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)