Readers may pick up a few frightening pointers of their own for Halloween night, but will they make the grade? (Picture...
Where else but Fright School will goblins, ghosts, and ghouls learn to scare trick-or-treaters?
Human schools might not expect their students to learn how to “moan,” “leer,” or “swoop” (or hold graduation in October), but other parts of Fright School will seem quite familiar, if with an eerie twist. There are picky eaters in the lunchroom (“Our apples don’t taste rotten!”) as well as students who will eat seemingly anything, and at recess, the jungle gym is popular with the spiders. On the way in, “The janitor tells birds of prey / to wipe their dirty claws. / The nurse yells from her office, / ‘Hey, I’m running out of gauze!’ ” (Both nurse and patients are mummies.) But although the students have learned all kinds of things, courage is not among them: When there’s a knock at the door, the students run away at the sight of three costumed trick-or-treaters: cowboy and princess who present white and a pirate (with eye patch) who presents black. Lawler’s rhythm and rhyme are mostly spot-on. Galletti’s seemingly digital illustrations display a delightful array of student stereotypes, including a nerdy cat with a ruler, a bat with braces, an ultra-girly witch bedecked in pink, and a skeleton who skateboards into class.
Readers may pick up a few frightening pointers of their own for Halloween night, but will they make the grade? (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8075-2553-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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