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GOODBYE, OLD HOUSE

Name: GOODBYE, OLD HOUSE
Author: Margaret Wild
ISBN: 978-1-73622-645-2

by Margaret Wild ; illustrated by Ann James ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 2021

Moving house can be fun and not scary with the right attitude.

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A young child visits their old haunts for the last time with affection and greets their new home with enthusiasm.

Tousle-headed and lively, the child runs through the landscape of their old home, naming all the activities they will never do again in this place: fishing in the river, running through the trees, petting the pony, swinging on the gate, eating at the table, dreaming by the fire. They stand at the open door, looking wistfully out at the familiar scenery, then bounce from room to room, saying goodbye to each one in turn. They even change the writing on their bedroom wall to the past tense: It now reads “Sam lived here.” The process is reversed as they travel to their new home and explore all the activities in the new place: pushing open the gate, climbing a tree, petting a new cat, and saying “Hello” to the new rooms. They add an inscription on the bedroom wall: “Sam lives here now.” The visual treatment is striking: Loose black-and-white cutout sketches of the child (whose skin is, therefore, paper-white) are collaged over soft, muted, almost abstract landscapes. The effect is pleasing, but there is little detail for a child to pore over. In spite of the paucity of detail, this would serve well to soothe a child anxious about a potentially traumatic experience.

Moving house can be fun and not scary with the right attitude. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-73622-645-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FEATHER
by Margaret Wild ; illustrated by Freya Blackwood

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TREASURE BOX
by Margaret Wild ; illustrated by Freya Blackwood

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE DAY YOU WERE BORN
by Margaret Wild ; illustrated by Ron Brooks

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LOVE FROM THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 15, 2015

Safe to creep on by.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?
edited by Eric Carle

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BUG?
edited by Eric Carle

- BOOK REVIEW
MY FIRST I SEE YOU
by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)