A charming tale of camaraderie and friendship.
A cat and a gargoyle guard their home and become pals in this illustrated children’s book.
A skittish white cat named Spooky roams the grounds of her new home. She is intrigued by Eben, the gargoyle hovering by the gates out front. But when she approaches the statue, Eben tells her to leave because he works best guarding the house alone. Still, Spooky continues to visit him. Although Eben mostly ignores her, the little cat feels secure next to him as it enables her to be “close enough to watch the outside world from the safety of the grounds.” After she is chased by a dog, Spooky is appreciative when Eben comes to her rescue. Though he brushes her off and claims he was just doing his job, Eben becomes less gruff over time. He even offers Spooky tips to boost her self-confidence (“The trick is to LOOK confident, even if you’re scared”). One day, a large dog tries to play with Eben, nearly knocking him over. Spooky scares the pooch away. Eben is relieved and thankful for his feline friend’s action. Although the gargoyle is shown as a stone statue in the pictures, he is depicted as a talking creature in Traver’s story. Still, the overall tale about two unlikely friends who help each other is effective, relatable, and will appeal to young readers. The striking images by debut illustrator Dahlenburg mostly mirror the text. They show the sweet-looking cat juxtaposed with darker scenery like shadowy hallways and elements such as brick, gates, and greenery.
A charming tale of camaraderie and friendship.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-578-56697-9
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Thousand Acre Woods Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A top-grade creepy/funny addition to the spooky-picture-book canon.
Is a cute kitty built in a castle’s laboratory responsible for the bad things that start happening?
“Here is a tale to chill the blood and thrill the soul—a tale of spooky paws and eerie claws.” The disembodied talking skull who narrates this story is alluding to Frankenkitty, who was engineered out of multiple cats, with visible stitches to show for it. As the house ghouls look on, Frankenkitty’s inventor laments, “I’ve created a monster!” Sure enough, bad things start happening: The mummy begins to unravel. Kitchen mice terrorize the cook. Certainly, Frankenkitty must be to blame. But after the butler, who resembles Frankenstein’s Monster, tosses Frankenkitty outside into the snow, where he looks forlorn and adorable, the skull has second thoughts: “Wait! Did we get it wrong?” It’s up to readers to make the call. Powell-Tuck goes all in with her spoof of old-time horror tropes, although kids needn’t know who Boris Karloff is to be tickled. For the book’s every scare (a severed foot and hand, their bones visible), there’s a wink (in a bit of metafictive fun, the skull urges readers to opt for a story about “unicorns, beasts, or bears”). Grey, a glutton for detail, leans on menacing reds and sickly greens to capture the frights, which include, in a line for the spooky-story ages, “walls as gray as old underpants.” Human characters vary in skin tone.
A top-grade creepy/funny addition to the spooky-picture-book canon. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781664300972
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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