A solid message for young DIYers, particularly those with more time than bean-bucks.
The pressure of picking a proper gift to exchange at a party makes the holiday season anything but a fava-rite time for the leguminous star of The Cool Bean (2019).
Having picked ultra-cool Beanadette J.’s name out of the basket but lacking the bean-bucks to buy anything, the frustrated frijole turns creative, using pens and paints to depict the intended recipient surrounded by tigers and rainbows. Seeing the multicolored guests at the party getting electronics and other expensive fancies only cranks up the anticipated humiliation—but Beanadette loves the picture, and so does everyone else. “I’d created something unique and original. I’d given it away. And it had made somebody happy.” If that summation isn’t explicit enough for some readers, John’s beany bestower leaves the party with a brand-new, hand-knit scarf of their own (“truly a cool—and also warm—gift, indeed”) and then ends by boiling the message down to a mushy meme: “When in doubt, just make something.” However easy it may be to see as naïve (or at best aspirational) the notion that beans, human or otherwise, are sure to value hand-made gifts over manufactured ones, young children or anyone with no bean-bucks to spend might take it to heart. No specific holidays are identified aside from glimpses of snow, garland, and carolers in the illustrations of anthropomorphized, cartoonish beans. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A solid message for young DIYers, particularly those with more time than bean-bucks. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-304542-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is not an essential purchase, most little pumpkins will love being told, “Baby, I'm batty for you!” (Board book....
Young children won't understand the metaphors but will appreciate the sentiment made clear by the repeated, Halloween-themed declarations of love in Wan's latest board book.
Each of the seven spreads presents an endearment illustrated by an object drawn with heavy outlines and just enough detail to invoke its essential characteristics. Lest it become too maudlin, between the “sugary, sweet candy corn” and a “purr-fect, cuddly kitty” is a “wild, messy monster.” Wan manages to make each drawing expressive and distinctive while relying on just a few shapes—crescents or circles for eyes, dots or ovals accenting cheeks. Although each spread stands alone, there are quiet connections. For example, the orange of the pumpkin is repeated in the candy corn, and the purple that adorns kitty's hat and bow becomes the prominent color on the next spread, setting off the friendly white ghost nicely. The same purple is used for the spider's body on the next to last spread. Subtle, shadowed backgrounds repeat the patterns found elsewhere in the book. For example, the background of the page with the kitty includes pumpkins, hearts, and hats and bows like the ones kitty is wearing.
While this is not an essential purchase, most little pumpkins will love being told, “Baby, I'm batty for you!” (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-88092-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Younger readers will wish that they could toss their heads…or at least that they knew someone who could.
A lonely zombie makes new friends just by being herself—on Halloween.
Quelled by Auntie Departed’s warnings, young Ghoulia has always confined her outdoor play to the walled grounds of Crumbling Manor…until she eavesdrops on some living children and learns about Halloween. Taking advantage of this perfect opportunity to fit in, she sneaks out with her albino greyhound (and gifted hairdresser), Tragedy, for some trick-or-treating. Hearing her name as “Julia,” the costumed children welcome her. But when they compete to see who’s the scariest, Ghoulia forgets herself and does her “special scary move,” tossing her head in the air and catching it in one hand. The children stand wide-eyed through no fewer than three illustrations on three successive pages—and then welcome her with wild delight and agree to keep her secret from the grown-ups. From then on they become regular visitors to Crumbling Manor. In full-color pictures that take up all or most of every page, Cantini depicts her undead urchin Tim Burton–style, with stitched lips, gray skin, and purple shadows beneath huge eyeballs (everyone else appears white—or sheet white). Assisted by suggestive labels (“Creaky steps”; “A spider visiting from the attic”; “Painting of Grandad Coffin”), the manorial setting has an Addams Family vibe and provides just the right spooky setting for this series opener. Halloween-themed activities are included in the backmatter.
Younger readers will wish that they could toss their heads…or at least that they knew someone who could. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3293-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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