In less-skillful hands this offering would come across as saccharine, but Milgrim pulls it off with witty aplomb. Share with...
Interesting how being yourself is championed, yet at the same time, most kids are keenly aware of the pressure to fit in and not be too different. In this slim title, Milgrim pairs his brief text with hilarious illustrations to celebrate a charmingly diverse group of monsters.
Digital ink and pastels brighten the pages featuring creatures in a wide range of tropical hues popping against stark white backgrounds. Opposing traits are contrasted, but each is portrayed with humor and respect. “Some monsters are afraid” shows a large, pink, polka-dot monster clutching its tail and shouting “Aggggggggggh!” at the sight of a small, green worm. The following spread—“Some are not”—depicts a blue-and-purple, toddlerlike, snaggletoothed tyke smiling as it holds the worm in its hand. “Some monsters will eat anything” zooms in on a table filled with platters full of striped beetles and other squirmy, prickly foods about to be devoured by a lip-licking character. But turn the page, and both children and their parents will relate to the small monster taking a bare nibble off the tip of a pizza slice that has been plucked clean of any spice or extra topping: “Some are picky.” Whether monsters (or people) are talkative or quiet, love to dance or just watch, like it outside or prefer staying inside, all “are absolutely, positively, completely, perfectly wonderful… / just the way they are!”
In less-skillful hands this offering would come across as saccharine, but Milgrim pulls it off with witty aplomb. Share with a pack of monsters to spark conversations about individuality. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9519-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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