Arrr! Bring out the piratical storytimes! This catchy read-aloud demands to be sung at the top of your lungs.
A reimagining of a classic song that reflects the recent viral popularity of all things sea shanty.
What shall we do with a drunken sailor? More like “What do you do with a grumpy kraken?” One by one, an array of “scruffy,” “sickly,” “tearful,” “hungry” creatures present themselves to a ship full of kids. As they appear, their ailments are tended to by the young sailors. Unfortunately, each time a monster finds respite, it accidentally gives the kids’ ship an awful battering, until inevitably time and tide take their toll. Now one of the sailors is grumpy, and it’s the sea critters’ turn to make things right. Standard cryptids like sea serpents and kraken rub shoulders with the less common Capricorn, Aspidochelone, and Hydra. Meanwhile, the perfectly scanned rhymes are complemented by delicious words like bilious, slewing, and peevish. Don’t know the tune? Sheet music is provided at the end alongside a section offering more info on each mythic sea creature, adroitly named “Now, Here Be Our Monsters.” Featuring dramatic angles and plenty of action, Brundage’s energetic art perfectly portrays a diverse cast of kids and colorful capering creatures. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Arrr! Bring out the piratical storytimes! This catchy read-aloud demands to be sung at the top of your lungs. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-53411-149-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
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
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