This look at monsters is fun, original, and even a bit soothing.
Monsters can’t get haircuts, play the piano, or wear nail polish.
There’s plenty of other things that these wild-looking, otherworldly beasts can’t do. A many-eyeballed monster sits on a couch watching television. “Monsters don’t wear glasses,” the text states. A giant creature with long arms bursts out of a car, steering wheel dislodged: “Monsters can’t drive.” And so the pattern continues page after page. Some of the monsters are silly—a Loch Ness–esque sea serpent who can’t swim sports a flowery inner tube. Others skew a bit more playfully frightful, like a toothy, all-black one who isn’t afraid of the dark. The final page shows a child with skin the white of the page snuggled peacefully in bed after realizing that monsters don’t do any of these things because they don’t exist. Translated from French, the spare text is effective, allowing readers to linger on Boudgourd’s wonderfully beastly oil paint and pencil illustrations. No two look similar, and each is a little eerie, though nonthreatening. The majority of the color is used on the monsters; the background items and humans are rendered in pencil. The concept that these creatures can’t do what humans do because they aren’t real is a fresh take and potentially reassuring to young readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This look at monsters is fun, original, and even a bit soothing. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781914912733
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Boxer Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move.
An interactive board book promises a variety of experiences.
A book that gets kids up and moving sounds like a great idea. The half-circle cutout of the spine and large handle formed by another die cut on the right side are intriguing. Unfortunately, the rhyming instructions for using the book as an exercise prop are confusing. Even adults will find themselves puzzled when told to “paddle the floor,” or to “hang on the handles. Step over the book. / You're a turtle in its shell! Go peek out and look.” The busy pictures shift perspective according to each scenario presented but give few visual clues. For example, the only hint of a dinosaur on the page where readers are told to “put this book to your mouth and let out a roar” like a dinosaur are the teeth that line the edges of what is meant to be a gaping maw. It’s not always obvious whether the book is meant to be facing readers or turned away from them, adding another layer of confusion. Furthermore, many of the instructions run counter to how young children are typically taught to treat books, as when they are told to step on it and then waddle or to lift it with their feet. The relatively thin board pages and weak handles will soon be torn by normal handling; following the directions in the text will only hasten the destruction.
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-8733-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Appealing and interactive, kid-friendly spooky fun.
Readers are invited to help the Boo Crew save the Monster Ball on Halloween.
Luna, Bones, and Fang—respectively, a wispy, gray-tinged ghost; a skeleton in a top hat and scarf; and a brown-skinned vampire—are the Boo Crew, working to fix disasters, from a witch’s malfunctioning broom to some smashed pumpkins, in time for the Monster Ball. Each page asks readers to assist: There are switches to push, candles to blow out, and claps of encouragement to give. After readers lend a hand, helping all the spooky creatures and getting materials fixed and ready, the Monster Ball goes on as planned. The rhyming text and interactive requests make this a worthy lapsit read-aloud. The Boo Crew are darling and kid-friendly, as are all of the illustrations. There are lots of charming details—the witch’s ride is a high-tech gadget labeled the Vroom Broom 5000; Frankenstein's monster is the proprietor of a boutique called Frank’s Frocks. The big-eyed, sweet-faced creatures are adorable, not scary; a teeny-tiny frog tucked into an eye socket makes even a skull look cute. Like Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2010), this one encourages readers to turn the book, press buttons, and applaud. These inclusions are popular for a reason: Kids love them. This title will be no exception. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Appealing and interactive, kid-friendly spooky fun. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728264561
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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