A satisfactory addition to the wide category of picture books about fury and tantrums.
A little boy’s temper becomes a creature of its own.
Fed up with waiting his turn for the swings and slide at a crowded playground, Sam becomes angry. From the top of his head rises a dark tangle of curly pencil lines. “Suddenly, something jumped in among the kids.” It’s a Temper, and it’s a feisty little monster. It clears the playground (no more waiting!) and follows Sam home. Naturally there’s trouble, and Sam’s defense that “it wasn’t me. It was my Temper” holds no water. From home to school to playground, Sam becomes increasingly frustrated with the Temper’s mischief and eruptions. Finally, he musters inner strength and learns to control it. It’s unclear, given that the Temper arose from Sam’s own head, why checking it doesn’t make it disappear—instead, it lurks near a toddler as if considering becoming that toddler’s temper. Intermittent patterned backgrounds recall the 1970s, as does the limited color range, which nicely offsets the volatile emotion. Figures are stylized with a faint touch of art deco, especially in their positions and postures. The Temper’s a ball of curly black hair with black button eyes, striped limbs and tail, and a huge red mouth, its general shape paralleling Sam’s hair (though also, unfortunately, recalling a golliwog doll).
A satisfactory addition to the wide category of picture books about fury and tantrums. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-77138-025-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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