A small heroine young readers will be happy to meet.
A young Black mermaid goes after a treasure but learns an important lesson along the way.
Oona is “sweet,” a little “salty,” and “brave and curious, like most treasure hunters.” Since she was a baby, she has gotten into adventures chasing treasure. But now she has Otto, her rescue otter pup, to come along for the ride. The one special treasure Oona can’t figure out how to obtain is a crown wedged tightly into a rift. She tries three times to get the crown unstuck—the artistic but vague language and pictures make it difficult to see exactly how—but when she is struck on the head by a ship’s plank, she gives up on the crown and on treasure hunting altogether. Oona pursues other interests. She naps. She draws in the sand. She hangs out with her “land friends”—two White children. But Oona is “missing her spark.” Then a seashell washes ashore, and she gets a new idea. Some ingenuity and invention and encouragement from friends become the keys to her success. Oona is an adorable protagonist, with her dark skin, enormous Afro, and striped, orange tail. With her ups and downs and her fundamental ebullience, she will easily win fans. While the details of her obstacles and problem-solving methods are not quite clear, the messages of persistence and of valuing the work of one’s own creation are strong and effective. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A small heroine young readers will be happy to meet. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-298224-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
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
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares.
In NSYNC singer Bass’ debut picture book, trick-or-treaters follow their fearless leader down Scary Street in search of sweets, or so they think.
On Halloween night, a mischievous child dressed as a wolf, reminiscent of Max from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), leads a large, racially diverse group of costumed children down Scary Street. The youngster, who narrates, proceeds to bring them to a series of creepy fun house–style homes, including a mansion belonging to a menacingly dapper vampire, who offers “toothy snacks” to the terrified-looking trick-or-treaters, and a gingerbread cottage inhabited by a Cruella de Vil–esque witch, who might prefer to bake little children into her house rather than give them treats. Uh-oh. Now there are only four children following the increasingly unreliable narrator, who ominously repeats, “No tricks allowed, just tasty treats.” As it turns out, the narrator does have a trick in store, which completes the scare and brings the story to a happy conclusion. Bass uses a simple, sometimes uneven rhyme pattern that ranges from interesting combinations (missed is rhymed with resist) to more familiar ones (treats/sweets) with a dash of tongue-in-cheek humor. Garrigue’s atmospheric illustrations have a Coney Island sideshow vibe, created with a candy palette that’s both invitingly tasty and garish in just the right way. The narrator, the vampire, and the witch are light-skinned.
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781454952176
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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