An origin story—and alphabet practice and vocabulary stretcher—for Bad Kitty’s fans.
A look back at the Halloween that transformed a brave, daring, and energetic kitty into a scaredy-cat and then into the Bad Kitty readers know.
As with her other adventures, readers are in for several trips through the alphabet. The first lists the cat’s attributes before she became a scaredy-cat. The second lists the things she saw that scared her: Evil Ectoplasm, a Killer Kracken, a Putrid Pirate, a Toxic Tarantula. Each (except for Uncle Murray, who just needs to borrow some candy) is a costumed child with trick-or-treat bag or bucket in hand, though on the first run-through, they look all too real and menacing, sending poor Kitty to cower under the couch. Until, that is, one of them drops the candy. Huge eyes reveal how excited Kitty is at the haul, Apples to Zoo animal crackers, and at that moment, she decides to become a bad Kitty, besting and revealing each costumed child and stealing the candy: she Flattened Frankenstein, Mauled the Mummy, and Nullified the Neanderthal. Bruel’s illustrations, heavy on the blacks, purples, and oranges, do double duty, helping youngsters with the challenging vocabulary, though not all the pictures really show the actions (Harassing the Hag looks like either tickling or scratching, and both Gnawing on the Goblin and Injuring the Invisible Man involve biting).
An origin story—and alphabet practice and vocabulary stretcher—for Bad Kitty’s fans. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59643-978-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses.
An elusive new quarry leads the How To Catch… kids on a merry chase through a natural history museum.
Taking at least a step away from the “hunters versus prey” vibe of previous entries in the popular series, the racially diverse group of young visitors dashes through various museum halls in pursuit of the eponymous dino—whose quest to “spread kindness and joy ’round the world” takes the form of a mildly tumultuous museum tour. In most of Elkerton’s overly sweet, color-saturated scenes, only portions of the Loveosaurus, who is purple and covered with pink hearts, are visible behind exhibits or lumbering off the page. But the children find small enticements left behind, from craft supplies to make cards for endangered species to pictures of smiley faces, candy heart–style personal notes (“You Rock!” “Give Hugs”), and, in the hall of medieval arms and armor, a sign urging them to “Be Honest Be Kind.” The somewhat heavy-handed lesson comes through loud and clear. “There’s a message, he wants us to think,” hints Walstead to clue in more obtuse readers…and concluding scenes of smiling people young and otherwise exchanging hugs and knuckle bumps, holding doors for a wheelchair rider, and dancing through clouds of sparkles indicate that they, at least, have gotten it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sugary uplift, shrink-wrapped for the masses. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781728268781
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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