A sweet look at love and commitment.
Come one, come all, to the biggest ceremony of the year!
A child receives an invitation to the wedding of two male giants. Surrounded by witches, wizards, goblins, and other fantastical creatures, the protagonist takes a seat in the church and witnesses the grooms’ declaration of love. After dining on confections such as “creamy rainbow root soup” and “pickled dragon’s breath with pink lotus fries” and listening to a litany of speeches at the reception, the child pipes up: “Why was I invited? Was it a mistake?” One of the grooms charges the child with sending back “a message for all: / Love is just love, whether GIANT or small.” Plummer’s first-person text features an AABB rhyme structure that, at times, feels forced (“The other held sky that bright stars wandered through. / He said this was something old, borrowed, and blue”). With their dark blue and purple palette, the illustrations capture the energy of the blessed event and the joy on the faces of the attendees. Unfortunately, the text is set against similarly colored backdrops, occasionally making it difficult to read. Still, the mood is festive, and though the takeaway is simple, it’s affirming. The young protagonist is brown-skinned, one of the giants is pale-skinned and pointy-eared with a bushy red beard, and the other giant is tan-skinned and dark-haired. The wedding guests are diverse in skin tone.
A sweet look at love and commitment. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781664300668
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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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