Readers of the first book will be pleased with the continuing adventures of Abigail and Reginald, but others may want to...
The follow-up to Peanut Butter & Brains (2015) adds an interstellar element but shows that sandwich snacks can be universal.
In the town of Quirkville, living people and the undead enjoy a peaceful cohabitation. But when one-eyed green aliens demanding, “SPLOINK!?” arrive and begin shooting up the town with “cosmic grape jelly,” heroes Abigail Zink and zombie Reginald save the day with the only complementary sandwich spread (hint: it’s in the title) that will please them. As with the first book, Abigail and Reginald make a winning team, and the zombies are illustrated as cute, if a little stitched-up and gray-blue in skin tone. (Abigail is white, but the other living inhabitants of Quirkville show pleasing diversity.) But what was fizzy and fun in the first book may seem like a loose mishmash (zombies and aliens and food culture) to readers new to the concept. And the aliens themselves lack the charm of the zombies; they’re tentacled and Popsicle-shaped with sprouting antennae and potato-shaped blasters, a not-particularly-original imagining. If the aliens seem gimmicky, especially for a story set in Quirkville, the story at least has a feel-good ending free of peanut allergies, which apparently aren’t a thing in outer space.
Readers of the first book will be pleased with the continuing adventures of Abigail and Reginald, but others may want to pick that volume first or bypass this alien sighting entirely. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2530-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This magical wisp of a story has an imaginative message for both planners and improvisers.
Julia decides to pack up and move her House for Lost Creatures, creating a host of problems with unexpected results.
Julia has taken in a cacophony of lost creatures: dwarves, trolls, and goblins, a singular rarity of a mermaid, and a patchwork cat, among others. But now, the house feels ready for a move. As the ghost starts to fade and the mermaid languishes, Julia puts her plan into action—packing books and stacking boxes. The move quickly turns into a series of catastrophes. Trying to retain the facade of control, Julia is dismayed to see her plans making things worse. Knowledge of the previous title, Julia’s House for Lost Creatures (2014), is a helpful introduction, as Hatke turns the solution of the first book into the problem for this one. With skillful pacing, the story has messages for both planners and creatives. The problems seem beyond resolution, keeping readers in gleeful suspended tension. While the first book introduced readers to the gnomish folletti, a hedgehoglike ghillie comes to a dramatic rescue here. There are two disparate messages in one story: Kindness will be returned, and it is OK to not have a plan. Connecting them together are lush illustrations that stretch the mind and add details to mythic beasts. Julia presents white. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 25% of actual size.)
This magical wisp of a story has an imaginative message for both planners and improvisers. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19137-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Treat little ones to this sweet, entertaining holiday story.
It can be a spooky thrill to go trick-or-treating for the first time.
Little Monster is excited to experience this Halloween rite of passage; the green Martian costume fits perfectly. Yet, as Little Monster and Papa venture out, the young one is leery. Scary things are all around: a pirate, witch, and ghost. On Little Monster’s street, it’s less the costumes than the wearers that look strange, given that residents are monsters themselves, albeit cute, smiling ones with big eyes. As they walk about, Little Monster begins to feel braver with Papa’s help. The pair’s final stop—a scary house with a graveyard for a front lawn—ushers in a surprise ending. This cute addition to the holiday shelf is by the creators of Go to School, Little Monster (2015) and the third in the Little Monster series. Told in rollicking rhymes, the story delivers humorous, not-too-scary chills for the youngest readers. The portrayal of a warm, patient relationship between child and father is welcome, as is the sight of a parent accompanying a child on nighttime trick-or-treating rounds, not universally presented in Halloween books. The delightful, expressive, atmospheric illustrations depict adorable, multicolored monsters—it’s definitely a diverse neighborhood. Winsome, lavender Little Monster, befanged, wide-eyed, noseless, and bearing a spearlike tail, subs for kids who anticipate and feel wary on their own first Halloween forays. Papa is blue and also has large eyes, fangs, a tail, and no nose.
Treat little ones to this sweet, entertaining holiday story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-9208-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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