Books about daring protagonists who indulge their wild sides are numerous—this one can be skipped.
Lana Lynn is an odd sheep.
Her friend Shawn suggests she nibble grass and nap, but Lana Lynn (say it fast) wants to stay up late and howl. In search of adventure one night, she finds a strange hairy blanket, illustrated in smudgy gray, with surprising features: pointy ears, bushy tail, long nose, sharp teeth….Donning it, she enters the “wild woods” and encounters a pack of wolves who invite her to run with them. Lana Lynn enjoys herself! At their insistence, she joins the wolves for dinner but is dismayed to find a squirrel, a rabbit (both as cute as can be), and Shawn (with an apple in his mouth) on the menu. The digital, cartoon-style art depicts Lana Lynn and Shawn against a hot-orange background staring at each other with desperately big, googly eyes. “I love sheep!” Lana Lynn exclaims as she grabs her friend and runs. Shawn and Lana Lynn are content to return to the meadow, where Lana Lynn now only feels an occasional need to howl like an “intrepid, new wolf.” This leaves the uncomfortable collision between fantasy and reality largely unresolved. Young critical thinkers concerned about the fate of the squirrel, the rabbit, and, potentially, other sheep victims may question Lana Lynn’s choices.
Books about daring protagonists who indulge their wild sides are numerous—this one can be skipped. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68263-050-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.
Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.
The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.
Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593697894
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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