Gentle, reassuring, and persuasive.
Hedgehog Hector loves his home, but it shouldn’t prevent him from going out.
There’s so much to do—cooking, playing the piano, snuggling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate, etc.—that Hector never feels like going outside. His squirrel friend Archie knocks on the door of Hector’s tree and invites him outside to make footprints in the snow. Excited, Hector runs to find his boots. But then he begins to worry: What if he catches a cold outside? He decides to stay home. The next day, Max the mouse calls with the news that the lake has frozen; it’s perfect for ice skating! Hector gets excited again, but then he starts to worry. What if he falls and hurts himself? Hector stays home. The next day, Hector receives a party invitation, with “Music, Dancing, and Hot Chocolate for everyone!” Once again, nerves supersede excitement, and he decides to stay home. But after a fitful night’s sleep, in the morning he swallows his fear, puts on his best bow tie, and goes to the party. Archie and Max greet Hector warmly, and enjoyment finally takes over. A three-page afterword offers advice to caregivers on dealing with children who worry. Rooks treats her subject with a light touch and age-appropriate language, and her anthropomorphized animals, created with what appear to be watercolors, are delightful.
Gentle, reassuring, and persuasive. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4338-2868-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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
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