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TICKLE MONSTER

Name: TICKLE MONSTER
Author: Édouard Manceau
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1731-4

by Édouard Manceau ; illustrated by Édouard Manceau ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 11, 2015

Bonne nuit, chérie.

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Matte black pages with blocks of solid geometric color and a white sans-serif type illustrate a small child’s dialogue with an imaginary monster in the darkness before sleep.

The tickle monster has yellow horns, green hands and feet, and a blocky orange-and-blue body. The child bravely asserts, “You don’t scare me!” Tickling the monster’s body parts one by one makes them fall away. After the feet are tickled, it cannot catch the narrator; after its teeth are tickled, it cannot bite; after its tummy is tickled, it cannot swallow. As it falls into its component parts, it becomes clearer that the tickle monster’s parts are made of toys that sit in the darkness of the room: an orange car; a little house. At last the child declares, “Phew! I can finally go to sleep”—with the awareness that if the monster returns, it can be tickled to pieces once again. The whole is quite elegant in the execution of its dramatic design and the demonstration of how the child copes with fear independently, without calling on a parent. The book is a French import; the original title is Gros Cornichon, in which “cornichon” means not only “pickle” but also something like “twitbrain.”

Bonne nuit, chérie. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4197-1731-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Abrams Appleseed

Review Posted Online: April 28, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

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FODO DODO GOES FISHING
by Édouard Manceau ; illustrated by Édouard Manceau ; translated by Daniel Hahn

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ONCE UPON A RAINY DAY
by Édouard Manceau ; illustrated by Édouard Manceau ; translated by Christelle Morelli ; Susan Ouriou

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LOOK!
by Édouard Manceau ; illustrated by Édouard Manceau

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)