If “being mean…means… // I LOVE YOU!!!” then this kid sure must love her mother. Wouldn’t lots of moms prefer a hug?
A monster enumerates all the ways her mother is mean.
While this blue-skinned child is completely serious in her criticisms of her green-skinned mother, hopefully readers will see similarities to their own moms: Mom wakes the narrator with tickles and coffee breath, waves goodbye at school dropoff, bribes her for conversation, and makes her read books at bedtime (four, not the desired 82). Weirdly, a school-picture-day thread is dropped abruptly in favor of a spelling bee (where Mom cheers). The creators of the podcast #IMOMSOHARD may have their tongues firmly in cheeks, but their child protagonist comes off as an entitled monster. Some adults may find the situations familiar, but few will want this parent-child duo as role models: The child is sassy (“Look, lady, my hands are all busy!”), and the mom is sometimes a doormat (making three breakfasts). Some of the rhymes are rough, and the meter sometimes stumbles. Briggs’ digital illustrations play up the humor in the text while smoothing the rougher edges a bit with a monster cast. Few characters have lifelike skin tones, and all have features that set them apart—varying numbers of appendages or eyes; horns, spines. The girl and her mother share blue hair, horns, and spotted skin; each has two legs and eyes, and the girl has two arms to her mother’s four. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 15% of actual size.)
If “being mean…means… // I LOVE YOU!!!” then this kid sure must love her mother. Wouldn’t lots of moms prefer a hug? (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304055-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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