Even the branding may not be enough to entice readers.
The truth is out there…but will Dana and Fox find it?
Young Dana and Fox are camping out in the backyard. Just as Dana finishes reading from a book called The X-Files, there’s a blinding light outside their tent. The kids investigate, but it’s only the floodlight. Fox sees a terrifying alien-shaped shadow…but it’s just Buster the dog trying to get a squirrel. Giant footprint? Dana explains it’s the start of a new swimming pool. A horrifying sound from beyond the fence? The duo investigates the dark woods with Buster and discover it’s just an old tire swing and an owl. Dana assures Fox that UFO talk is “crazy” talk, but neither sees the crashed flying saucer in the shadows or the giant, reptilian ET following them down the path. Back at the tent, they unzip the flap and find two tiny green ETs reading their books! The two white, human kids scream and run inside, while the two green extraterrestrial kids scream and run for the woods. Dana and Fox run up the stairs past parents watching TV…but are those really Dana’s parents? Rekulak’s envisioned sleepover between the two future paranormal investigators is impossible in the mythos of The X-Files, as Mulder and Scully didn’t meet until adulthood, a liberty that may well drive the adult fans who are the natural audience for this book up the wall. Smith’s digitally created, enticingly spooky cartoon illustrations help to tell the story, the text of which is set entirely in speech bubbles (the ET script is an amusing touch). Kids won’t know the characters’ back story (front story?) and fans may balk, but the tale, familiar in its broad outlines, may still entertain.
Even the branding may not be enough to entice readers. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-59474-979-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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
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
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