Spook-tacular!
A self-proclaimed ghost expert instructs readers on how to rid their homes of spirits.
“GOT GHOSTS?” asks Hugo, a dark-skinned child with huge eyes and a mop of black curls. “Thinkin’ about ditchin’ your apparition? Do you want to give your spirit a lift? Force out your phantom? Boot out your boo? Then you’ve come to the right book!” Hugo brags about having ousted a ghost, then suggests that readers try a few experiments to determine if they really have a ghost at home (look for ectoplasm, set up a camera). Hugo then identifies typical ghostly behaviors (spirits are prone to boredom and enjoy pranks) and offers suggestions for getting rid of them (shriek “Bam shicka lam shicka boom boom bam,” practice playing your recorder as loudly as you can). All the while, the ghost whom Hugo supposedly banished follows the unaware child from room to room. Eventually, child and ghost meet and talk, with encouraging results. This graphic novel aimed at younger readers features exaggerated cartoon illustrations and silly exchanges between Hugo and the ghost. The tale brims with wordplay, visual gags, potty humor, and whimsy. (Who knew ghosts love to short-sheet each other?) The text is concise, making it ideal for reluctant readers. Some sophisticated vocabulary is incorporated, and the burgeoning friendship between Hugo and the ghost is heartening.
Spook-tacular! (Graphic fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781771475877
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Frightful and delightful: a comforting (to some, anyway) reminder that no one sleeps alone.
In a tardy prequel to I Need My Monster (2009), candidates for that coveted spot under the bed audition.
As the distressingly unflappable young narrator looks on, one monster after another gives it a go—but even with three mouths, the best roar Genghis can manage is a puny “blurp!”, silly shadow puppets by shaggy Morgan elicit only a sneeze, and red Abigail’s attempt to startle by hiding in the fridge merely leaves her shivering and pathetic. Fortunately, there’s Gabe, who knows just how to turn big and hairy while lurking outside the bathroom and whose red-eyed stare and gross drooling sends the lad scrambling into bed to save his toes. “Kid, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” the toothy terror growls. Right he is, the lad concludes, snuggling down beneath the covers: “His snorts and ooze were perfect.” As usual, the white-presenting child’s big, bright, smiling face and the assortment of bumbling monsters rendered in oversaturated hues keep any actual scariness at tentacle’s length. Moreover, Monster, Inc. fans will delight in McWilliam’s painstaking details of fang, claw, hair, and scales.
Frightful and delightful: a comforting (to some, anyway) reminder that no one sleeps alone. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-947277-09-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flashlight Press
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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