by Xavier Garza ; illustrated by Xavier Garza ; translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 2021
Yelling, “You can’t scare me!” never gets old.
Banging on the windows, pounding on the doors, howling in the wind do nothing to frighten Damian—he just wants to get to bed.
However, nearly every fiend in Mexican folklore is out to give him the shivers. From duendes to the cucuy—with a couple of witch owls and other monsters in between—the entire supernatural hierarchy is at a loss as to why it can’t get a rise out of the fearless boy. “ ‘You can’t scare me, silly Donkey Lady,’ says Damian and walks back to bed. ‘Not even a little bit!’ ” La Llorona sniffles through her ever flowing tears, “Why aren’t you scared of us?” Gripping his “mighty luchador night light” in his fist, Damian triggers its blazing white light and sends everyone scurrying into the shadows. Satisfied that he’ll be left alone at last, Damian falls asleep. Garza’s forceful comic-book–style illustrations balance the repetitive bilingual storyline as 10 monsters and their buddies seek to wreak havoc over Damian’s bedtime routine with little variation in approach. Full-bleed color artwork populates all the recto pages, while the running refrain, “You can’t scare me….Not even a little bit / No me asusta….Ni un poquito,” concludes most text on verso and will likely have young audiences chiming in. The lack of backmatter and/or a monster glossary may limit the enjoyment for a wider audience.
Yelling, “You can’t scare me!” never gets old. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-55885-924-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
More by Xavier Garza
BOOK REVIEW
by Xavier Garza ; illustrated by Xavier Garza
BOOK REVIEW
by Xavier Garza ; illustrated by Xavier Garza ; translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura
BOOK REVIEW
by Xavier Garza ; illustrated by Xavier Garza ; translated by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite
by Lucille Colandro ; illustrated by Jared D. Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2018
Series fans won’t be disappointed, but young readers and listeners who know only the original ditty may find this a touch...
Having eaten pretty much everything on land in 13 previous versions of the classic song, Colandro’s capaciously stomached oldster goes to sea.
Once again the original cumulative rhyme’s naturalistic aspects are dispensed with, so that not only doesn’t the old lady die, but neither do any of the creatures she consumes. Instead, the titular shark “left no mark,” a squid follows down the hatch to “float with the shark,” a fish to “dance with the squid,” an eel to “brighten the fish” (with “fluorescent light!” as a subsequent line explains), and so on—until at the end it’s revealed to be all pretending anyway on a visit to an aquarium. Likewise, though Lee outfits the bespectacled binge-eater with a finny tail and the requisite bra for most of the extended episode, she regains human feet and garb at the end. In the illustrations, the old lady and one of the two children who accompany her are pink-skinned; the other has frizzy hair and an amber complexion. A set of nature notes on the featured victims and a nautical seek-and-find that will send viewers back to the earlier pictures modestly enhance this latest iteration.
Series fans won’t be disappointed, but young readers and listeners who know only the original ditty may find this a touch bland. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-12993-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More by Lucille Colandro
BOOK REVIEW
by Lucille Colandro ; illustrated by Jared Lee
BOOK REVIEW
by Lucille Colandro ; illustrated by Jared Lee
BOOK REVIEW
by Lucille Colandro ; illustrated by Jared D. Lee
by Barbara Cantini ; illustrated by Barbara Cantini ; translated by Anna Golding ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 7, 2018
Younger readers will wish that they could toss their heads…or at least that they knew someone who could.
A lonely zombie makes new friends just by being herself—on Halloween.
Quelled by Auntie Departed’s warnings, young Ghoulia has always confined her outdoor play to the walled grounds of Crumbling Manor…until she eavesdrops on some living children and learns about Halloween. Taking advantage of this perfect opportunity to fit in, she sneaks out with her albino greyhound (and gifted hairdresser), Tragedy, for some trick-or-treating. Hearing her name as “Julia,” the costumed children welcome her. But when they compete to see who’s the scariest, Ghoulia forgets herself and does her “special scary move,” tossing her head in the air and catching it in one hand. The children stand wide-eyed through no fewer than three illustrations on three successive pages—and then welcome her with wild delight and agree to keep her secret from the grown-ups. From then on they become regular visitors to Crumbling Manor. In full-color pictures that take up all or most of every page, Cantini depicts her undead urchin Tim Burton–style, with stitched lips, gray skin, and purple shadows beneath huge eyeballs (everyone else appears white—or sheet white). Assisted by suggestive labels (“Creaky steps”; “A spider visiting from the attic”; “Painting of Grandad Coffin”), the manorial setting has an Addams Family vibe and provides just the right spooky setting for this series opener. Halloween-themed activities are included in the backmatter.
Younger readers will wish that they could toss their heads…or at least that they knew someone who could. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3293-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Caleb Krisp
BOOK REVIEW
by Caleb Krisp ; illustrated by Barbara Cantini
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.