A diverting, nonfrightening vampire story with a message.
You’ve got tooth problems? What should Dracula do?
Young Dracula loves his pointy, sharp fangs. They’re his heritage. He brushes and flosses regularly, and a wiggly fang worries him. When it falls out, he’s horrified! He resorts to fix-it measures: taping, tying, and sticking it with gum. One night he catches the Tooth Fairy in the act of “stealing” the fang. Mom and dad gently explain the truth and help Drac relinquish his prize. Eventually, a new fang grows in. Guess who shows it off—and can’t wait for the other fang to fall out? For leery kids at the wiggly-tooth stage and just in time for Halloween, here’s a fun take on the I’m-afraid-to-lose-my-baby-teeth trope. Using very simple language, Dracula clearly conveys his and many kids’ fears. The parents helpfully make their point comprehensible, too: It’s the Tooth Fairy’s job to take fangs so strong adult teeth can grow; understanding the Tooth Fairy’s sadness at not being able to do her job makes it easier to let it go. And a new tooth does emerge. Happily, good oral hygiene is stressed. Text is set in all capitals; different types are sometimes incorporated to funny, emphatic effect. Humorous, expressive illustrations appeal with strong lines and colors. Widow-peaked Dracula is winsome, as are his monster pals. He and his parents are ghastly white, but their family portraits have diverse skin and hair colors.
A diverting, nonfrightening vampire story with a message. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5210-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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
Sweet but misleading.
A plucky child becomes a space traveler.
Arceneaux was the first pediatric cancer survivor and the first with a prosthetic body part to become an astronaut, part of the first all-civilian space mission in 2021. The author, who in 2022 published the adult memoir Wild Ride and its 2023 adaptation for middle-grade readers, here shares her story with an even younger audience. Told in the third person, the narrative emphasizes the bravery she summoned as she coped with a cancer that left her with a prosthetic leg bone and knee (hinted at with an incision line in one illustration) and went on to become a space traveler. Curiously, Hayley and her astronaut colleagues are portrayed as children. They play with a “stuffed toy alien,” and in an imagined episode, Hayley ventures outside the spacecraft to perform a repair. Accompanied by softly hued illustrations with character designs that recall Precious Moments figurines, the narrative emphasizes familiar details of space travel that will appeal to children; both their bodies and their food float in zero gravity. The mission splashes down safely, and Hayley rushes to hug her mom. Though Arceneaux was the youngest astronaut to have orbited the Earth, she was an adult when she did so. The odd choice to depict her as a child reduces her compelling story to a fantasy. Arceneaux is white; other characters are diverse.
Sweet but misleading. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593443903
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Convergent
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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