Joyful and entertaining, with a glimpse into a different aspect of Judaism.
A mischievous goblin plays havoc with preparations for Shabbat in this playful take on Jewish folklore.
Rose and Benny, Jewish siblings who are light-skinned with dark hair, are braiding challah for Shabbat dinner, trying to be quiet so Mama can rest after a hard day at work in the village. They are interrupted by loud rumbling noises. They check outside to see their yard a mess and strange tracks all around. Both children attribute the damage to a goblin, for everyone in the village knows of these invisible creatures with roosterlike tracks. They nervously continue working on the challah. Suddenly Rose’s kerchief is yanked off her head and flies across the room and up the chimney. Then their Shabbat candlesticks and kiddush cup go flying and crashing to the floor. Rose comes up with an ingenious plan, and the siblings work together to capture the goblin. Focusing on Jewish folklore—something not seen as commonly in kid lit—this tale centers on a loving, kind, and resourceful sibling pair. They are never in any real danger, as Jules keeps the tale light and lively, providing sound effects in uppercase letters to enliven the action. Borlasca’s bright cartoons set the scenes in an old-style kitchen with no modern appliances in sight and with the Shabbat accouterments prominently displayed. The children are expressive, and the action is depicted with humor and charm. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Joyful and entertaining, with a glimpse into a different aspect of Judaism. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68115-591-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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All-in-good-fun Halloween scares.
In NSYNC singer Bass’ debut picture book, trick-or-treaters follow their fearless leader down Scary Street in search of sweets, or so they think.
On Halloween night, a mischievous child dressed as a wolf, reminiscent of Max from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), leads a large, racially diverse group of costumed children down Scary Street. The youngster, who narrates, proceeds to bring them to a series of creepy fun house–style homes, including a mansion belonging to a menacingly dapper vampire, who offers “toothy snacks” to the terrified-looking trick-or-treaters, and a gingerbread cottage inhabited by a Cruella de Vil–esque witch, who might prefer to bake little children into her house rather than give them treats. Uh-oh. Now there are only four children following the increasingly unreliable narrator, who ominously repeats, “No tricks allowed, just tasty treats.” As it turns out, the narrator does have a trick in store, which completes the scare and brings the story to a happy conclusion. Bass uses a simple, sometimes uneven rhyme pattern that ranges from interesting combinations (missed is rhymed with resist) to more familiar ones (treats/sweets) with a dash of tongue-in-cheek humor. Garrigue’s atmospheric illustrations have a Coney Island sideshow vibe, created with a candy palette that’s both invitingly tasty and garish in just the right way. The narrator, the vampire, and the witch are light-skinned.
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781454952176
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
Chilling in the best ways.
When a young rabbit who’s struggling in school finds a helpful crayon, everything is suddenly perfect—until it isn’t.
Jasper is flunking everything except art and is desperate for help when he finds the crayon. “Purple. Pointy…perfect”—and alive. When Jasper watches TV instead of studying, he misspells every word on his spelling test, but the crayon seems to know the answers, and when he uses the crayon to write, he can spell them all. When he faces a math quiz after skipping his homework, the crayon aces it for him. Jasper is only a little creeped out until the crayon changes his art—the one area where Jasper excels—into something better. As guilt-ridden Jasper receives accolade after accolade for grades and work that aren’t his, the crayon becomes more and more possessive of Jasper’s attention and affection, and it is only when Jasper cannot take it anymore that he discovers just what he’s gotten himself into. Reynolds’ text might as well be a Rod Serling monologue for its perfectly paced foreboding and unsettling tension, both gentled by lightly ominous humor. Brown goes all in to match with a grayscale palette for everything but the purple crayon—a callback to black-and-white sci-fi thrillers as much as a visual cue for nascent horror readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Chilling in the best ways. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6588-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
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