A giggly geography lesson for trip planners and daydreamers.
Buckle up and get ready for a rollicking road trip with merry monsters.
This cast of joyful monsters in bright colors with myriad different sizes, shapes, facial features, and appendages is guaranteed to make young readers giggle. In this tour of urban and nature-based tourist attractions, the rhyming west-to-east journey connects U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Hollywood, Nashville, Orlando, and the nation’s capital, with national parks such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, the Everglades, and the Cape Cod National Seashore (with one generic amusement park tossed in for good measure). Most destinations merit a double-page spread with scrapbook border and the state name emblazoned across a federal highway marker. Lively illustrations capture a monster’s mischief at every stop. The San Francisco cable car turns one monster slightly green with nausea. Another grinning monster mugs for the camera as the fifth face on Mount Rushmore while a third gets its “15 seconds’ fame” compliments of Wrigley Field’s Kiss Cam. Decked out in sunglasses and floral swim trunks, a daring monster boogie boards over Niagara Fall. But who knew another would get dizzy atop Lady Liberty? In a quiet feminist statement, readers are admonished that “should you meet the president, / assure her he [the monster] won’t bite.” Background illustrations show tourists with a range of skin tones and ages, and the aforementioned president is white.
A giggly geography lesson for trip planners and daydreamers. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-53411-037-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Frightful and delightful: a comforting (to some, anyway) reminder that no one sleeps alone.
In a tardy prequel to I Need My Monster (2009), candidates for that coveted spot under the bed audition.
As the distressingly unflappable young narrator looks on, one monster after another gives it a go—but even with three mouths, the best roar Genghis can manage is a puny “blurp!”, silly shadow puppets by shaggy Morgan elicit only a sneeze, and red Abigail’s attempt to startle by hiding in the fridge merely leaves her shivering and pathetic. Fortunately, there’s Gabe, who knows just how to turn big and hairy while lurking outside the bathroom and whose red-eyed stare and gross drooling sends the lad scrambling into bed to save his toes. “Kid, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” the toothy terror growls. Right he is, the lad concludes, snuggling down beneath the covers: “His snorts and ooze were perfect.” As usual, the white-presenting child’s big, bright, smiling face and the assortment of bumbling monsters rendered in oversaturated hues keep any actual scariness at tentacle’s length. Moreover, Monster, Inc. fans will delight in McWilliam’s painstaking details of fang, claw, hair, and scales.
Frightful and delightful: a comforting (to some, anyway) reminder that no one sleeps alone. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-947277-09-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flashlight Press
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Approachable and comfortably predictable.
A young ghost arrives at Scare School.
Unlike big sister Bella, late bloomer Bash has never been good at “all the GHOST STUFF.” Dad’s sure that Scare School is just what Bash needs. Bash isn’t so certain; he’s intimidated by his classmates and teachers. But he perks up when he meets his roommate, Itsy, a smart, welcoming spider, though he vows to steer clear of mean-spirited Vlad and Vicky. Still, the dreaded Creature Aptitude Test worries Bash. To pass, he must pass through solid objects and turn himself invisible—skills he struggles with. Bash doesn’t want to be kicked out of school, so he’ll have to buckle down. With Itsy’s help and encouragement from his classmates, Bash realizes he’s more capable than he thought. Written in first person from endearingly anxious Bash’s point of view, the book has a diarylike feel. The text is presented in a handwritten font, while grayscale cartoon illustrations are peppered throughout. The supportive, sincere friendship between Bash and Itsy is the most compelling part of the story. Letters between Bash and Bella shed further light on Bash’s personality and their relationship. Though the book’s takeaway—believe in yourself, and you can do anything—is a familiar one, it’s just what many children need…and who better to deliver the message than an adorably nervous ghost?
Approachable and comfortably predictable. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665922098
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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