At last! A unicorn book as charming as the species it highlights.
Size is relative, even if your relatives are particularly huge.
The teeny-weeny unicorn has it tough. Everything in his kingdom, from the food to the rugs to the toys, is ginormous—at least, in his opinion. Maybe that’s why the unicorn’s siblings like to use him as a pawn in their chess games. When his siblings refuse to go swimming with him in the moat (“a gumball would make a bigger splash than you,” his brother sneers), the unicorn runs off in a huff into the tall grasses of the castle’s lawn. There, he meets a particularly teeny gnome who is furious with him. Without realizing it, our hero somehow managed to smash the gnome’s sporty roadster with his “giant” hoof. Despite the unicorn’s protestations that he’s far too tiny to have crushed the car, the even smaller gnome insists on full repayment. Payment is forthcoming, and at last our hero’s small stature works to his benefit. As the book nears its conclusion, the lesson appears to be particularly pertinent for those young readers just beginning to discover both their vastness and their insignificance at the same time. “We are all teeny-weeny. We are all giant. And we are all just the right size.” Facial expressions and visual gags complement the text perfectly, all thanks to Harris’ particular skill with chalk pastel. The female gnome has a bushy white beard that obscures her features; only a long pink nose is visible.
At last! A unicorn book as charming as the species it highlights. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593571880
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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