by Samantha Berger ; illustrated by Tad Carpenter ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2017
If only every underwear shopping trip ended in such satisfaction.
When a tattered but loved pair of underwear finally falls apart, Monster must brave Undie World to find a new pair.
The search is harder than it might seem: “PUT. DOWN. THOSE. UNDIES. / THOSE. AREN’T. THE. ONES. / Those undies aren’t worthy / of dressing these buns!” From the designs on the underwear to their style, cut, and feel, none fit the bill, er, butt. But then Monster, high atop a pile of discards, a single pair askew on one of his horns, spies the perfect pair. “The moment I saw them, / my tush fell in love!” He concludes the shopping trip by posing, walking, dancing, and taking a stance in the new underwear. Oddly, as there’s been no hint before this of a filmed performance, Berger ends this rollicking, giggle-inducing romp with a spread of Monster taking a bow, other monsters applauding around a clapperboard: “And…SCENE.” Carpenter uses just three colors in his illustrations, and lime-green Monster stands out amid all the other, blue, nonscary monsters, especially when sporting his red-and-white tighty whities, his expressions wonderfully readable. Strangely, though Monster realizes that going underwear-less is “just a little bit c-c-cold. / …And a little exposed / …and A LOT to behold” (Monster shivers behind the leaf of a potted plant), he goes shopping with not a stitch on. No anatomy is shown; Monster’s gender is cued by underwear style.
If only every underwear shopping trip ended in such satisfaction. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-87973-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
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by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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by Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 23, 2022
Chilling in the best ways.
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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
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