Review by New York Times Review
More cute than creepy, this lullaby follows two monsters from classroom to bedtime routine. Its somewhat simplistic, off-kilter rhymes falter a bit at the end, but the narration benefits enormously from witty illustrations by Murphy ("Hush Little Dragon"), which abound in slithery, sinister asides: a stacking toy stacks on a bone; a Totoro-like ghost trails a larger figure. And googly-eyed monsters eat worm-ridden salad. Slurp. LITTLE GOBLINS TEN By Pamela Jane. Illustrated, by Jane Manning. 32 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) The classic counting rhyme "Over in the Meadow" goes spooky in this Halloween riff, which should endure well past Oct. 31. Beginning with its opening "big mommy monster/and her tittle monster one," readers are rewarded with ample humor and wit. Manning's ghosts, zombies and dragons look as if they've just emerged from a color-saturated waterworld. And there's a sweetness to the parental-offspring interactions in the playful, alliterative text. BONE DOG Written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann. 32 pp. Roaring Brook Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Genuine goose bumps arise from this moving story of a boy and his recently deceased dog by Rohmann, who won the Caldecott Medal in 2003 for "My Friend Rabbit." At once heartbreaking and heartwarming, "Bone Dog" recounts the enduring friendship between Gus and Ella, who promises always to be with her human companion. "A promise made under a full moon cannot be broken," she says. In this exceptional book, wishes come true on Halloween. THE 13 NIGHTS OF HALLOWEEN, written and illustrated by Guy Vasilovich. 40 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Vasilovich's first book as author as well as illustrator tweaks "The 12 Days of Christmas" by pitting a flame-haired Kewpie against a ghoulish backdrop of marching mutants, singing skulls, icky eyeballs and their Allhallows ilk. The wildly purple illustrations will more than distract from the occasionally disappointing text. (Why not "witches warbling" or "witches whispering" instead of "witches witching"?) But the bats wearing baseball caps, the eyeball flowers and the corpses caroling are wickedly original. FRANGOLINE AND THE MIDNIGHT DREAM By Clemency Pearce. Illustrated by Rebecca Elliott. 32 pp. Chicken House/Scholastic $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Another moon, another saucer-eyed minx! (What did Halloween heroines look like pre-Tim Burton?) Redheaded Frangoline is a do-gooder girl: "Pure as milk and good as gold,/She always did as she was told." Until sundown that is, when, unbraided, she re-emerges as a fiery-haired daredevil. "I'll do exactly as I please!/I'm Frangoline!' she said," goes the refrain. Parents will love the girl's gumption, and children will adore her irreverence. Elliott's dark, scratchy, animated drawings will please both. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 16, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
Monster kids are you ready for this? are just like normal kids! That's the tried-and-true message veteran author Yolen delivers in this whimsical, warmhearted rhyme, which turns bumps in the night into the sweetest sounds of all. Monsters creep, / Monsters crawl, / Over the meadow / And up the wall. she writes, as a cadre of beasties make its way from school, through the playground, across the park, down the street, and into home for dinner, baths, and bedtime. Murphy's oil, acrylic, and gel illustrations instantly grab attention with their unusual, omniscient points of view: sailing high above the ground or from an angle even lower than a bathtub. The monsters look like they walked off a Maurice Sendak casting call, with their big, wobbly bodies and almost random sprinklings of horns, tentacles, and eyeballs. Yolen winds down her lullaby with night noises ( Burp / Grrrr / Snarl / Snarf ) that peter away as the two monstrous siblings finally conk out. Bedtime fare you can count on.--Kraus, Danie. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Swinging a few branches across the evolutionary tree, Yolen turns her attention from the misbehaving dinosaurs of the How Do Dinosaurs... series to garden-variety monsters that leave school en masse around 3 P.M. Murphy's acrylic and oil spreads feature the not-so-creepy, multicolored beasties against soft copper and aluminum backgrounds. Brandishing four eyes, two horns, tentacles, stripes or slug-like bodies, the adorably ugly monsters engage in rambunctious playground activities to the tune of a rhymed lullaby ("Monsters run,/ Monsters stumble,/ Monsters hip-hop,/ Monsters tumble"), before the story focuses on two horned, pint-size siblings returning to their comforting, candlelit cave. After they wolf down worm sandwiches, their four-eyed parent wrestles them into the tub and then into their beds, where they play the games that monsters (and children) might play in the dark ("GROWL Gurgle/ BURP Grrrr"). Their protestations finally give way to slumber, but the book is filled with enough slap-dash action, humor, and gentle disobedience to keep readers eager for more readings-and probably not all that eager for sleep. Ages 3-5. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A whimsical bedtime story to share again and again. Yolen's rhythmic, sometimes repetitive verse is perfectly matched by Murphy's double-page illustrations. Children will enjoy the contrast of a familiar routine with a cast of bright-eyed and animated monsters. After making their way home from school, two monster children eat dinner, play inside, bathe, pray, and go to bed, reluctantly at first. However, their attempts to keep each other awake with funny noises and silly games eventually prove futile. Through the text and pictures, the mundane machinations are brought to life with humorous and charming details. Background colors fade from light to dark as the sun goes down, and the light at home is less bright but warmer than that of the sun. Descriptions grow shorter and more specific until the only words are the noises the youngsters make as they go to sleep. As monster stories go, this one is ultimately more sweet than scary. Pair it with James Otis Thach's The Tickle Monster Is Coming (Bloomsbury, 2008) for a storyhour or recommend it as a bedtime book. A first choice for any library serving sweet, silly little monsters.-Heather Talty, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Two youngsters fill their day with familiar school, play, and bedtime routines. Accompanying illustrations depict the not-so-familiar: bulging-eyed, horny-headed, worm-eating monsters. This playful lullaby will entertain bed-goers, as the adorable (in their own way) pair say their "monster prayers, / And into bed / But toss and turn / And bounce instead" before succumbing to sleep. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This brief lullaby-story provides just-right toddler-sized chills.The action begins at 3:00 as school lets out. Yolen describes it all in rhyme with spare sentences and phrases: "Monsters creep, / Monsters crawl // Over the meadow / And up the wall." Murphy chooses a muted palette to illustrate the motley bunch of innocuous creatures sporting a horn or two, various numbers of eyes, an occasional tail or tufts of fur. Preschool monster fans are sure to pore over and giggle at Murphy's droll, detailed paintings executed in a mix of oil, acrylic and gel. They will also easily relate to the depicted routine of coming home, eating dinner, taking a bath and getting into bed, and they will be charmed rather than spooked as the text's gentle cadence begins to work a calming magic. But the monsters show a last burst of energyof courseas they "toss and turn and bounce" before finally snuggling in for the night. Silly going-to-sleep sounds such as "Growl / Gurgle / Burp" gently bring this soon-to-be popular book to an end.There's plenty in this scary-sweet book to please children all year round. (Picture book. 2-4)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
