A spellbinding excursion into scary, sometimes amusing, and enthrallingly illustrated settings.
Tour a series of terrifying settings in this Czech import.
Six sites await. First up, Dracula’s Castle, inhabited by fanged vampires with an unslakable thirst for blood. Then it’s on to a ghastly graveyard, a frightening forest filled with mysterious lights and sinister sounds, and a narrow, dark street where a headless knight, a ghostly woman, and ruthless robbers all lurk. Next up: an abandoned house where terrible ghosts loom and, finally, a wicked warlock’s tower—be careful, lest you be turned into a frog or ant! Two spreads are devoted to each setting; brief background or historical descriptions of each spooky scene fill one spread, while the other features an intricately detailed seek-and-find challenge. Against shadowy backgrounds and tortured Gothic architecture, incredibly elaborate scenes of mystery and mayhem unfold. Text presented in spidery scripts challenges readers to count all the candles or locate hard-to-locate items. Spectral servants, bizarre inhabitants, decayed furnishings, and odd doings—like a raccoon in the bath or a sleepwalker on the roof—abound. Corners hold skulls, cobwebs, cauldrons, dragons, and more—enough to keep determined readers occupied for hours. The fantastically somber and eerie illustrations spirit this book into the higher realms of delicious horror. Characters vary in skin tone.
A spellbinding excursion into scary, sometimes amusing, and enthrallingly illustrated settings. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9788000074498
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Albatros Media
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Important background for prospective voters.
An explanation of what general voting is for and why it is important.
In unusually (for the audience) frank if bare-bones fashion, deRubertis briefly chronicles the “long and bumpy” pursuit of universal suffrage in this country, from the first U.S. elections in which just 1 percent of the populace was qualified to vote at all up to the 30 percent turnout that resulted in 2016’s presidential debacle. Rightly observing that having a legal right to vote and being allowed to exercise it are two very different things, she charts the slow extension of the franchise to ethnic minorities and women (as well as a federal court’s retrograde 2000 exclusion of residents of Puerto Rico and other territories); names the first African-Americans, Native Americans, woman, and Chinese-American to be elected to the U.S. Senate; and surveys the civil rights protests that led to 1975’s expanded Voting Rights Act. Though she focuses largely on federal elections, state and local ones receive some attention. The Electoral College, voter-record security issues, and political parties go unmentioned, but the author does highlight low turnouts as a significant issue before closing with an eloquent summation of voting’s importance in a democratic society. Age, race, and gender diversity were plainly important considerations in choosing the generous selection of period portraits and scenes and recent stock photos, including the striking cover image of a smiling black woman at a podium.
Important background for prospective voters. (Nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63592-055-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Despite some bright spots, the lapses in information limit this book’s effectiveness.
Celebrations the world over involve parades, foods, traditional clothing, masks, songs, and games.
Information on 14 festivals, country maps, small photos, sidebars with holiday traditions (in the appropriate language, with pronunciations), and instructions for a craft or a recipe make up the jam-packed left-hand page of each spread. Colorful, detailed cartoon illustrations appear opposite. There are certainly interesting facts and activities, but careless errors (including a typo to be corrected in the second printing) and a decided slant toward Western Europe (five countries) diminish the volume’s value. Opening with a monthly timeline, it offers a basic explanation of the lunar calendar, but this is not integrated into the overall schematic. This spread also includes a note about adult help for crafting and cooking. Many of the holidays are commonly celebrated in many places, and the author’s failure to point out that Eid al-Fitr, for instance, is celebrated around the globe and not just in Egypt is a sad, missed opportunity. A few festivals are not often presented in books of this ilk, such as Bhutan’s Dangpai Losar (New Year) and Laternenfest, held on St. Martin’s Day in Germany. The last spread brings children from the different countries together and asks readers to create their own celebrations. Sadly, given the glancing notice necessitated by the format, there are no further resources included.
Despite some bright spots, the lapses in information limit this book’s effectiveness. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4549-3213-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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