Readers will want to think twice the next time they reach for a snack.
Be careful what you nosh on—be very careful!
Some popular snack foods take center stage as actors in a satire of horror movies. It’s cleaning day in the snack cabinet, but Sprinkles, a sprinkles-encrusted cookie, is having none of it. She prefers to greet new neighbor Dr. Nuttenstein instead and convinces her pals Doodle and Pretzel to accompany her. Bad idea. The friends encounter a spooky house and a literally (pea)nutty professor who, Dr. Frankenstein–like, creates a monster: a peanut-butter sandwich cookie. Having hidden themselves out of fear, Sprinkles and company watch these goings-on in horror but are soon discovered and mortified by the doctor’s order to clean up the mess they made in his lab. Working collaboratively makes the job easier, but Sprinkles, no cleaner to begin with, abandons her post and heads home, followed by her friends. The story is funny overall, with a humorous premise, personable characters, and some comical lines, but the ending is flat; the idiom with which the story concludes is likely to go over young kids’ heads. However, readers will giggle at and savor the very colorful photographed dioramas filled with witty, inventive details composed of common household objects, gadgets, and other items that create “realistic” backgrounds. The three protagonists and doctor are bespectacled and have limbs fashioned from bent paper clips. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.3-by-18.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 74.4% of actual size.)
Readers will want to think twice the next time they reach for a snack. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4016-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares.
In NSYNC singer Bass’ debut picture book, trick-or-treaters follow their fearless leader down Scary Street in search of sweets, or so they think.
On Halloween night, a mischievous child dressed as a wolf, reminiscent of Max from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), leads a large, racially diverse group of costumed children down Scary Street. The youngster, who narrates, proceeds to bring them to a series of creepy fun house–style homes, including a mansion belonging to a menacingly dapper vampire, who offers “toothy snacks” to the terrified-looking trick-or-treaters, and a gingerbread cottage inhabited by a Cruella de Vil–esque witch, who might prefer to bake little children into her house rather than give them treats. Uh-oh. Now there are only four children following the increasingly unreliable narrator, who ominously repeats, “No tricks allowed, just tasty treats.” As it turns out, the narrator does have a trick in store, which completes the scare and brings the story to a happy conclusion. Bass uses a simple, sometimes uneven rhyme pattern that ranges from interesting combinations (missed is rhymed with resist) to more familiar ones (treats/sweets) with a dash of tongue-in-cheek humor. Garrigue’s atmospheric illustrations have a Coney Island sideshow vibe, created with a candy palette that’s both invitingly tasty and garish in just the right way. The narrator, the vampire, and the witch are light-skinned.
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781454952176
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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