Debut picture-book pair Brockenbrough and Sanchez are millions of years ahead of their time.
It is tough being a tooth fairy to dinosaurs when all your sources of new material are extinct.
All the Dinosaur Tooth Fairy can do now is flit around the museum and reminisce about the good old days when “the world was hot [and] the teeth were huge.” But one day, a little girl loses her tooth—“PLIK!”—right inside the dinosaur hall. The tiny fairy (who looks a little like a small T-Rex) will do anything to add that tooth to her collection. She just needs to defeat the modern-day machines that get in her way—like the giant, yellow monster with swoopy lashes (the school bus) or the ferocious and frustrating one-eyed doorknobosaurus. And of course, her main rival—the Human Tooth Fairy—isn’t about to let that tooth go without a fight. The tiny, lime green, bulbous dino (complete with ruffled skirt and crown) gets into many amusing scrapes, but she just might end up making a new friend. While the concept is not quite as obvious as the now-familiar dino-train combo, dinosaurs and loose teeth make for a surprisingly fun read. (Ten percent of the author’s royalties will be donated to Kids International Dental Services.)
Debut picture-book pair Brockenbrough and Sanchez are millions of years ahead of their time. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-24466-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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