A cuddly “Can I keep it?” tale with a silly, flesh-eating twist.
Zeb is your average zombie kid—he lives on his family’s farm raising grain-fed, free-range brains, which are then sold at the local farmers market.
One morning, a most unusual thing happens: A baby brain twitches to life and bounces into Zeb’s arms. Zeb and his brain (named Brian) quickly become inseparable. It takes some convincing for Zeb’s mother to let him keep Brian—“Brains are food, NOT pets!”—but finally she gives in. Fearing for Brian’s safety around his hungry zombie father, however, Zeb tearfully concludes that the safest place for Brian is out in the forest with the other wild brains. After assuring Zeb that Brian is in no real danger of being eaten, his father helps him on a quest to find Brian and bring him back home for good. Inviting digital illustrations portray Zeb and his family as angular, freckled green zombies with irresistibly cute cartoon faces. Brian and the other brains are equally huggable. While adults may find this buddy story a tad predictable, wrapping up as it does with a neat, happy ending, its quirky charm will readily appeal to young monster lovers. And for those who can make the connection between Zeb’s zany zombie farm and the real-world farm-to-table food system, this heartfelt picture book may even spark an interest in locally sourced fare.
A cuddly “Can I keep it?” tale with a silly, flesh-eating twist. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781547613625
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
Halloween is used merely as a backdrop; better holiday titles for young readers are available.
A ghost learns to appreciate his differences.
The little ghost protagonist of this title is unusual. He’s a quilt, not a lightweight sheet like his parents and friends. He dislikes being different despite his mom’s reassurance that his ancestors also had unconventional appearances. Halloween makes the little ghost happy, though. He decides to watch trick-or-treaters by draping over a porch chair—but lands on a porch rail instead. A mom accompanying her daughter picks him up, wraps him around her chilly daughter, and brings him home with them! The family likes his looks and comforting warmth, and the little ghost immediately feels better about himself. As soon as he’s able to, he flies out through the chimney and muses happily that this adventure happened only due to his being a quilt. This odd but gently told story conveys the importance of self-respect and acceptance of one’s uniqueness. The delivery of this positive message has something of a heavy-handed feel and is rushed besides. It also isn’t entirely logical: The protagonist could have been a different type of covering; a blanket, for instance, might have enjoyed an identical experience. The soft, pleasing illustrations’ palette of tans, grays, white, black, some touches of color, and, occasionally, white text against black backgrounds suggest isolation, such as the ghost feels about himself. Most humans, including the trick-or-treating mom and daughter, have beige skin. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-16.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 66.2% of actual size.)
Halloween is used merely as a backdrop; better holiday titles for young readers are available. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6447-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
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