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AUNT MATILDA’S ALMOST-BORING PARTY

Name: AUNT MATILDA’S ALMOST-BORING PARTY
Author: Jane Morris Udovic
ISBN: 978-1-59078-653-6

by Jane Morris Udovic & illustrated by David Udovic ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009

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In a first-person, rhyming narration, an unnamed little boy recounts being forced to attend a party by his Aunt Matilda of the “oh-so-perfect manners” and the “oh-so-perfect friends.” Bored and exhausted, the boy falls asleep in an armchair and begins to dream. In his dreams, the boring party morphs into a boisterous free-for-all, in which the guests all wind up throwing pies at each other. In dreamland, the boy has a change of heart about his Aunt and invites her to participate in his birthday baseball game. In muted colors and much detail, the illustrations depict both the real party and the dream party with the same combination of realism and whimsy. The illustrations also do the job of clearly indicating with a palette modulation that the boy is asleep and remains dreaming through the rest of the tale. A pleasing-enough romp but with an ending somehow unsatisfying, probably because readers know that the boy’s fond memories and new appreciation for Aunt Matilda will vanish—rather undeservedly, as the last scene depicts her lovingly covering him with a blanket—when he wakes up. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59078-653-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Front Street/Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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HANSEL AND GRETEL

by Stephen King ; illustrated by Maurice Sendak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 2025

Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.

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Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.

In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.

Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025

ISBN: 9780062644695

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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BECAUSE YOUR DADDY LOVES YOU

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005

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Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)