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POULTRYGEIST

Name: POULTRYGEIST
Author: Mary Jane Auch
ISBN: 0-8234-1756-5

by Mary Jane Auch & illustrated by Herm Auch & Mary Jane Auch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2003

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In the Auchs’ eighth “poultry parody,” the noisy farmyard animals ignore requests from Clarissa the cow and Sophie the pig to pipe down, until a tall, ghostly figure drives everyone out of the barn the night before Halloween. The animals don’t nerve themselves to return until after the next night’s parade—whereupon the “ghost” rises again, but turns out to be only Sophie, standing atop Clarissa and covered with feed sacks. Mixing occasional photos into digitally produced farmyard scenes, the Auchs use dark backgrounds to brighten colors, and outfit their furred and feathered cast in amusingly altered costumes. Clarissa finally brings temporary peace to the barn by sitting on the noisiest offenders, rival bantams Rudy and Ralph. Predictable, and a bit thin, but good humored throughout. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-8234-1756-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BUK BUK BUK FESTIVAL
by Mary Jane Auch ; illustrated by Mary Jane Auch ; Herm Auch

- BOOK REVIEW
A DOG ON HIS OWN
by Mary Jane Auch

- BOOK REVIEW
BEAUTY AND THE BEAKS
by Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch & illustrated by Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch

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DIARY OF A SPIDER

by Doreen Cronin & illustrated by Harry Bliss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005

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The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-000153-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
MAMA IN THE MOON
by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Brian Cronin

- BOOK REVIEW
LAWRENCE & SOPHIA
by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Brian Cronin

- BOOK REVIEW
CLICK, CLACK, GOOD NIGHT
by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Betsy Lewin

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HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE STARRY NIGHT

From the Henry and Mudge series

by Cynthia Rylant & illustrated by Sucie Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1998

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Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)