Readers will laugh all the way up the mountain and down as the goblin searches for and finds a very unmysterious yeti.
If you’ve ever wanted to talk with a friendly goblin or meet a yeti, here’s your chance.
Gilbert, a blue-green goblin with huge eyes and ears, whispers to readers on the title page, then engages them in a discussion about how mysterious goblins are (they “pop up in unexpected places,” “lurk in the shadows,” and “are masters of disguise”) and how unmysterious yetis are. To prove the point, Gilbert is determined to find and photograph a yeti. Gilbert plows through the snow, snapping pictures of “yetis” that turn out to be shrubbery, an ice carving, and even a “snowboarding unicorn in a puffy coat.” These illustrations are giggleworthy, but they also share a secret with readers. Gilbert is totally unaware of actual yetis quietly gathering to watch. Frustrated, Gilbert screams, triggering an avalanche. Thanks to a sign in one of the illustrations, readers know before Gilbert that the avalanche is whisking the protagonist toward a secret yeti hideout. With a gulp, Gilbert lands in the hideout, but after many goblin-yeti photos, Gilbert confirms that “yetis aren’t so mysterious. They are just a little shy…until they’re not.” Gilbert's large eyes and open face reveal a range of emotions, and small details help individualize the yetis. Gilbert's running conversation with readers, presented in speech bubbles, is engaging; repeat readings will also reveal humorous details in the artwork. With some pages divided into panels, this one has the feel of a graphic novel. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Readers will laugh all the way up the mountain and down as the goblin searches for and finds a very unmysterious yeti. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66592-177-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
The premise is worn gossamer thin, and the joke stopped being funny, if it ever was, long ago.
A fairy tending their garden manages to survive a gaggle of young intruders.
In halting cadences typical of the long-running—and increasingly less amusing—How To Catch… series, the startled mite—never seen face-on in Elkerton’s candy-colored pictures and indeterminate of gender—wonders about the racially diverse interlopers: “Do they know that I can grant wishes? / Or that a new fairy is born when they giggle?” The visual action rather belies the sweetness of the verses, the palette, the bright flowers, and the multicolored resident zebras and unicorns, as after repeated, elaborately designed efforts to trap or even shoot (with a peashooter) the fairy come to naught, the laughing children are escorted out of the garden beneath a rising moon. The encounter ends on a (perhaps unconsciously) ominous note. “Hope they find their way back sometime,” the butterfly-winged narrator concludes. “And just maybe next time they’ll stay!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The premise is worn gossamer thin, and the joke stopped being funny, if it ever was, long ago. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728263205
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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Familiar fare that fans are sure to eagerly snag.
The ever-expanding How To Catch series adds yet another target for young hunters.
Move over, Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and a couple of dozen others: Walstead and Elkerton have another mythical creature in their crosshairs. In this latest installment, a group of diverse campers attempt to capture a shaggy but lovable sasquatch. Bigfoot, whose face is rarely seen and who narrates in verse, emerges from a cozy, elaborate treehouse to investigate a nearby campfire and secure food for a youngster. The scent of s’mores proves a powerful draw, and soon Bigfoot is subjected to the various traps improvised by the kids. Although the campers look “freaked out,” it’s Bigfoot who must run. Snagging a small treat, our narrator (who’s “not SCARY… / just tall and hairy!”) avoids the other lures. Meanwhile, the forest animals accidentally interfere, and the kids struggle with some unworkable options, like a water-spraying robot (delivered to their campsite?). Finally, the campers, realizing that Bigfoot has a child, leave the “Bigfoot Family” a cooler full of food, and Bigfoot happily concludes, “Now my son has all the friends / he could ever really need” (though they never actually interact—still, it’s better than being prey!). Uneven rhythm makes the lines wobbly, though the rhymes generally work. Elkerton uses lots of bird’s-eye perspectives in his usual colorful cartoon style; the wacky hijinks will keep series devotees entertained.
Familiar fare that fans are sure to eagerly snag. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9781464230776
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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