Big bad bubble

In this outing from the team behind Dragons Love Tacos and the Those Darn Squirrels books, lumpy, hairy monsters learn to handle their terror of bubbles, delivering a rollicking (but rational) examination of fear vs. reality. Wait-terror of bubbles? Well, yes. Mogo, an attention-loving monster, has been spreading misinformation about how bloodthirsty bubbles are. "Summer is the worst time for bubbles," he says knowledgeably. "That's when they go into a feeding frenzy." Rubin's voice-over narrator counsels Yerburt, Froofle, and Wumpus through their anxiety, coaching them, therapist-style, through their first encounter with actual bubbles: "Froofle, climb down from that tree. Look at your claws. You have pointy claws." "Go on, Wumpus. You can do it." Wumpus has big horns, and the bubble explodes as he summons his courage and pops it: "Kaboom!" Salmieri's pen-and-ink lines give unexpected delicacy to the story; the monsters' furry coats, painted in warm shades of gold, yellow, and red, stand out theatrically against the black backdrops. Whether readers will take the hint about unreasonable fears, they'll be back for giggle-fueled rereadings. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 3-While most children are not afraid of them, the monsters of La La Land are terrified of bubbles. Mogo reminds his friends of the attack on him by a bubblegum bubble often enough so that Yerbert screams, Froofle runs away, and Wumpus cries whenever they see one. All four monsters face and overcome their fear through encouragement by the narrator (and reader) to reach out and touch a bubble. Now all they need to worry about are-cue the dramatic music-butterflies! Based on the picture book by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri (Clarion, 2014), this iconographic treatment features a bubble bouncing around the screen until it is popped. Other animation is largely limited to camera pans and zooms. It opens with the sound of pulsating percussion, ominous French horns, and string base, and the sound effects are sprinkled throughout at just the right times, always remaining in the background, emphasizing such sounds as the popping of bubble wrap or bath bubbles, and screams. Kirby Heyborne calmly reads the text at a reassuring, deliberate pace, which makes this particularly useful as a read-along (one of the two viewing options, the other has no text on the screen). This charming, fresh approach to children's videos is sure to fly off the shelves.- Stephanie Bange, Wright State University, Dayton, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.