A riotous Halloween story with some bite to it.
A shark has a hard time getting into the spirit of spooky season.
Snaggle-toothed Edgar—whom readers may remember from Santa Shark (2023) and Pizza Shark (2024)—isn’t keen on Halloween. After hearing a loud shriek coming from Edgar’s house, his friend Lotta Crab finds him cowering under his bed after having seen a ghost. Lotta explains that the “ghost” is just their pal Tim in a costume and urges Edgar to go outside and join the festivities. Edgar suddenly has a whole list of “important things that I shrimply must do.” Lotta persists and shows Edgar the fun of activities such as carving pumpkins, decorating the house, and donning costumes (Edgar dreams up “Count Sharkula”) until their friends stop by while trick-or-treating. After they compliment his get-up, Edgar joins the group—so Lotta won’t be scared, he alleges. This comical holiday story will hopefully allay potential fears about Halloween; while giggling, readers will be reassured by the idea that even a dreaded undersea predator can feel a bit apprehensive at this time of year. The funny proceedings move along at a brisk clip, with Edgar frequently spouting marine-themed puns—also expressed visually—that may go over kids’ heads. The zany illustrations are set in panels, sometimes with captions, comic book–style, and the expressive protagonists’ conversations (presented in all caps, with numerous exclamation points) appear in speech bubbles.
A riotous Halloween story with some bite to it. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110781
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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