A sweet and candid representation of anxiety, with a creative twist.
Phil the groundhog fights nerves on his family’s biggest day of the year.
The night before Groundhog Day, Phil is too worried to sleep. His family has high expectations for him tomorrow—what if he messes up when he makes his big announcement? With some assistance from little sister Marla, however, Phil pulls it off. Together, the siblings tell the waiting crowd of anthropomorphic animals that they still have six weeks of winter to go. Readers who have felt overwhelmed by anxiety will relate to Phil, whose feelings are cleverly captured by the illustrations. In one scene, Phil sits in bed surrounded by looming thoughts of his parents and siblings, who dwarf him in size. On another page, a winding trail of questions swirls around him: “What if I shake? What if my voice is too soft?” And when the big day rolls around, the other animals are depicted in shadowy silhouettes with unnerving stares. Happily, though, readers also see Phil try a variety of coping methods: distracting himself by making pancakes, talking through his feelings and rehearsing with Marla, and ultimately seeking out help in making a successful proclamation. His world brims with delightful details, from the little underground rooms for each member of the family to the adorable accessories depicted on the endpapers. The book concludes with a recipe for “Phil’s Pancakes” and a brief explanation of Groundhog Day.
A sweet and candid representation of anxiety, with a creative twist. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780823453870
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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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