A good-hearted, if slightly unsettling, tale of unlikely pals.
After a spider is mistaken for a kitten, he attempts to keep up the ruse.
“A big, hairy spider” moves into an old house sure to contain appropriately dark nooks. He weaves a web under a sofa, but homeowner Betty finds him, decides he’s an adorable kitten, and names him Luigi. As Betty plays with the spider and prepares a special bed for him, he warms to the idea of being Luigi the kitten; kittens seem to lead “magical lives.” He starts fearing that Betty will realize her mistake and banish him, so he does his best to be as felinelike as possible. But when the secret’s revealed, Betty reassures Luigi that she knew he was a spider all along and thought he was only having “fun pretending to be a kitten,” and the pair live companionably ever after. While the sentiment—find someone who will “like you for who you really are”—is timeless, the complicated charade, where each character pretends for the other, is convoluted, and the message is somewhat hidden within the protracted text. Perhaps the most polarizing factor will be Luigi himself. Hawkes has made the spider look really, well, spidery. There’s whimsy when Luigi is mimicking a kitten, but his lightly anthropomorphized form is going to be too creepily arachnid for some. The muted, dusty colors in acrylics and pencil don’t provide much warmth, though they do add spidery ambience. Betty presents white.
A good-hearted, if slightly unsettling, tale of unlikely pals. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781536219111
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.
What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.
“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665961080
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
