Simply wondrous.
In this collaboration between bestselling YA fantasy novelist Bardugo and Hugo Award–winning illustrator Picacio, a grief-stricken girl meets four horsemen on Día de los Muertos.
Though her family is busy preparing for tonight’s party, dark-eyed, tan-skinned Cala can’t stop thinking of her recently departed grandfather. She and her family head to the cemetery; amid the graves, altars, and candles, people sing, whisper, and laugh to greet deceased loved ones. Wrapped up in the festivities, Cala loses sight of her family and soon encounters three skeletal horsemen: one sickly, one famished, one sullen-faced with a wide-brimmed hat of storm clouds. The riders argue, and Cala decides to find her family alone until a fourth rider appears: Death. With encouragement from all the horsemen—in particular, Death, who shows her the “invisible parade” of departed loved ones who are always with us—Cala discovers the courage to face her sorrow and join the party. With aplomb, Bardugo and Picacio confront the specter of death, weaving small moments of catharsis and humor into a languidly paced narrative that gives readers the time and space they need to process the complex emotions on display. In the first half, Picacio’s gorgeous graphite artwork favors lush, golden-hued movement in contrast to Cala’s stoic profile before introducing subdued yet lush purples, blues, greens, and reds right around the first rider’s appearance. The illustrator deftly introduces each rider in striking, individual double-page portraits.
Simply wondrous. (notes from the creators) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9780316295703
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
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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