A familiar story distinguished by striking illustrations.
A lonely girl finds friendship and a sense of purpose when she meets an otherworldly sea creature.
When Ruby discovers the creature, lost and washed up on the shore, she decides to let it stay in her beach hut. Ruby, who’s often teased at school, is grateful for a friend, and she ventures to the bakery to find it food. Eventually, after the creature destroys Ruby’s grandmother’s garden, Ruby realizes it can’t stay. The baker’s daughter, Sonya, helps Ruby and Granma return the creature to the ocean, where it’s reunited with its community; as the tale ends, friendship blossoms between Ruby and Sonya. While the story is somewhat predictable, the hyper-realistic illustrations, a combination of digital painting, acrylic, and oil paint, are utterly engrossing. They make incredible use of shadow and light, and the water looks real enough to touch. The sea creature is both captivating and slightly terrifying, with multiple circular rows of teeth and familiar features reimagined and recomposed: a lizardlike tail, a narwhal’s tusk, and octopus arms extending from its large head. The scene of the ocean monsters together is a sight to see; they appear almost alien and may intimidate little ones, though some will be entranced. Ruby and Granma are light-skinned, while Sonya is Black.
A familiar story distinguished by striking illustrations. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781761067648
Page Count: 32
Publisher: A & U Children/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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