Here’s one to have fun with as we cheer for essential medical personnel.
Even monsters have their off days sometimes and need expert help.
In this humorous rhyming book that acts as a simple explanation of EMTs’ important work and their equipment, Gus, an EMT and “amboolance” driver, is blue and has three eyes, two yellow horns, and fangs—a monster, in other words. Sally, Gus’ paramedic partner, is a White-presenting human. This duo caters to monsters, whom they ferry on their “Monster Squad bus.” Readers are cautioned never to say “quiet” around them. That’s because an ambulance has urgent work to do and needs to sound its siren—LOUDLY—as it hurries patients to the hospital. Afterward, the otherworldly creatures acknowledge the EMTs as heroes. The book does double duty. While it aims to be somewhat straightforward about EMTs’ duties, it’s packaged as a light monster story—appealing to child audiences, especially around Halloween. It provides some useful information; numerous items (some tongue-in-cheek) are labeled throughout (the lack of a pronunciation guide for such terms as defibrillator and kraken may prove challenging); and there’s even a glossary, though some terms are included for comic effect. The rhymes are bouncy and witty, and onomatopoeic sound effects are included in large capitals where needed to add drama. The comical, energetic illustrations are attention grabbers; the monsters are laughably weird and nonfrightening. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.875-by-14.375-inch double-page spreads viewed at 83% of actual size.)
Here’s one to have fun with as we cheer for essential medical personnel. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-399-54850-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Chilling in the best ways.
When a young rabbit who’s struggling in school finds a helpful crayon, everything is suddenly perfect—until it isn’t.
Jasper is flunking everything except art and is desperate for help when he finds the crayon. “Purple. Pointy…perfect”—and alive. When Jasper watches TV instead of studying, he misspells every word on his spelling test, but the crayon seems to know the answers, and when he uses the crayon to write, he can spell them all. When he faces a math quiz after skipping his homework, the crayon aces it for him. Jasper is only a little creeped out until the crayon changes his art—the one area where Jasper excels—into something better. As guilt-ridden Jasper receives accolade after accolade for grades and work that aren’t his, the crayon becomes more and more possessive of Jasper’s attention and affection, and it is only when Jasper cannot take it anymore that he discovers just what he’s gotten himself into. Reynolds’ text might as well be a Rod Serling monologue for its perfectly paced foreboding and unsettling tension, both gentled by lightly ominous humor. Brown goes all in to match with a grayscale palette for everything but the purple crayon—a callback to black-and-white sci-fi thrillers as much as a visual cue for nascent horror readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Chilling in the best ways. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6588-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
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