An engrossing read with stirring, memorable illustrations.
It’s a countdown with a cast of creepy characters ushering in Halloween night.
A little girl in a Pierrot-clown–inspired costume exits a farmhouse and sets off on Halloween at dusk. As she makes her way along the fields and fences, she meets the titular 10 spooky pumpkins, nine black cats, eight “screeching bats,” and so on until all of the creatures come together to dance in the cornfield. When the full moon rises, the wind sends everyone scattering into the night and the girl heads calmly to bed. While the countdown structure is a classic in picture books, Grimly uses it to maximum effect, drawing readers into each page turn. The “Five Little Pumpkins”–inspired verse works, rhythmic and full of alliteration like “greedy goblins” and “skinny scarecrows.” It’s a harmonious pairing with Grimly’s gently cadaverous illustrations. The patchwork endpapers set the palette and theme for the haunting art. There are little quilted touches throughout, on the bats’ wings and in the buttons and stitching on the scarecrows, for example. The full moon is drawn with enormous presence and personality: imposing, fierce, powerful. Grimly’s tale and illustrations provide readers with a fully imagined world, a complete mood and atmosphere. It evokes all of the eerie, unsettling elements of Halloween with the safety of a child tucked into bed at the end.
An engrossing read with stirring, memorable illustrations. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-11244-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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