A sweetly offbeat adventure that will have readers peering into their toilets for a dragon of their own.
Can you spot the friendly dragon?
“There are no dragons in this book,” an unseen narrator tells us repeatedly as kids frolic throughout a rambling house. But sharp-eyed readers will realize that in fact there is a dragon to be found here. The lurking dragon’s claws are visible beneath a coat hanging in the mudroom, there’s a gaping maw in the fireplace, and what’s that peering out of the toilet?! Kids will shout out with glee upon catching the creature that’s hidden in plain sight. When the sheepish, bespectacled dragon is finally revealed, it informs readers that there are no dragons here—“There’s only one. ME!” The beast tells us that its friends are hidden in a crack in the wall (the book’s gutter) and notes that the book must be jiggled to release them. This tried-and-true trick for engagement will delight. The art has a colored pencil–esque look, and the house has a messy, cozy feeling that matches the pacing and tone. Grown-ups appear throughout, though they don’t intervene in the mayhem even when the kids climb steep ladders, which may tickle some while arousing concern in others. Characters are racially diverse.
A sweetly offbeat adventure that will have readers peering into their toilets for a dragon of their own. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780735845497
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
The premise is worn gossamer thin, and the joke stopped being funny, if it ever was, long ago.
A fairy tending their garden manages to survive a gaggle of young intruders.
In halting cadences typical of the long-running—and increasingly less amusing—How To Catch… series, the startled mite—never seen face-on in Elkerton’s candy-colored pictures and indeterminate of gender—wonders about the racially diverse interlopers: “Do they know that I can grant wishes? / Or that a new fairy is born when they giggle?” The visual action rather belies the sweetness of the verses, the palette, the bright flowers, and the multicolored resident zebras and unicorns, as after repeated, elaborately designed efforts to trap or even shoot (with a peashooter) the fairy come to naught, the laughing children are escorted out of the garden beneath a rising moon. The encounter ends on a (perhaps unconsciously) ominous note. “Hope they find their way back sometime,” the butterfly-winged narrator concludes. “And just maybe next time they’ll stay!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The premise is worn gossamer thin, and the joke stopped being funny, if it ever was, long ago. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728263205
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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Familiar fare that fans are sure to eagerly snag.
The ever-expanding How To Catch series adds yet another target for young hunters.
Move over, Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and a couple of dozen others: Walstead and Elkerton have another mythical creature in their crosshairs. In this latest installment, a group of diverse campers attempt to capture a shaggy but lovable sasquatch. Bigfoot, whose face is rarely seen and who narrates in verse, emerges from a cozy, elaborate treehouse to investigate a nearby campfire and secure food for a youngster. The scent of s’mores proves a powerful draw, and soon Bigfoot is subjected to the various traps improvised by the kids. Although the campers look “freaked out,” it’s Bigfoot who must run. Snagging a small treat, our narrator (who’s “not SCARY… / just tall and hairy!”) avoids the other lures. Meanwhile, the forest animals accidentally interfere, and the kids struggle with some unworkable options, like a water-spraying robot (delivered to their campsite?). Finally, the campers, realizing that Bigfoot has a child, leave the “Bigfoot Family” a cooler full of food, and Bigfoot happily concludes, “Now my son has all the friends / he could ever really need” (though they never actually interact—still, it’s better than being prey!). Uneven rhythm makes the lines wobbly, though the rhymes generally work. Elkerton uses lots of bird’s-eye perspectives in his usual colorful cartoon style; the wacky hijinks will keep series devotees entertained.
Familiar fare that fans are sure to eagerly snag. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9781464230776
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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