Squeamish readers beware. With great gusto and unwavering focus on the gory details, O’Meara kicks up his explanation of the causes and physiological effects of fear with an array of bugaboos, from vampires and ghosts to the guillotine (“SWIIISH!…A basket every time!”) and the Ebola virus. Though he does claim to have seen a ghost, in general he displays a skeptical attitude toward supernatural phenomena, and his rational explanations of night noises around the house, for instance, may offer at least a crumb of comfort to timorous sorts. Kaposy illustrates several of the author’s references to films and literature with black-and-white comics-style panels—breaking down Ichabod Crane’s physical reactions to facing the headless horseman, showing Edgar Allen Poe gravely sticking a finger up his nose to demonstrate how embalmers in ancient Egypt removed a corpse’s brains—and depicts the author himself as an eerily lipless narrator. Hilarious, informative and attractively creepy bait, particularly for reluctant readers. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-55453-294-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2009
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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