Very flavorful; young readers will savor every crumb.
Ghosts and monsters are known to scare folks at Halloween, but…cookies?
After being touched by a stream of magical moonlight, seven very mischievous, colorful, decorated-for-Halloween biscuits escape their tin and make their way out into the street, having already frightened Little Monster and Doggy. They shout “BOO!” at everything they meet. Lamppost? Check. Car? Check. Fireflies in a jar? Yep, them, too. And so it goes, the cookies BOO-ing at all the creatures they encounter, including a witch’s black cat. After a too-close brush with a hungry predator, the cookies manage to effect a quick escape—no crumbling here—and all ends boo-tifully in their favor. This adorable story is conveyed in lilting, rollicking rhymes that zing along with minimal text per page. Its original take on a Halloween theme and its cute “Gingerbread Man” vibe will entertain and delight young readers. The scenes on the final pages will keep kids guessing about what might happen next for Little Monster and the cookies. The delicious (in more ways than one) illustrations are charming, comical, and inventive, the cookies’ decorations providing clever inspiration for holiday-themed baking. Strong, crisp lines and colors encourage readers’ focus on characters and actions. Shiny colored foil on the book’s cover enhances visual excitement.
Very flavorful; young readers will savor every crumb. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-286956-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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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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