“The surprise of each metamorphosis and the resourcefulness of the plucky hero will engage young viewers, while beginning readers will find the elegant simplicity of the text rewarding and clever.” from ah ha!
obscure the moon and thinks the monster is gone. Reassured, the sheep line up, and Lena counts them to sleep. The pitchperfect ending finds the moon, not monstrous at all, peeking from behind the clouds to say, “Good night, silly sheep. And good night, lovely Lena.” A lovely “Going-to-Bed Book” indeed. (Picture book. 2-5)
STAR POWER
London, Kelli Dafina/Kensington (288 pp.) $9.95 paper | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-7582-8699-4 Series: Charly’s Epic Fiascos, 3
come the shadows. This goes on as Yeti discovers a horde of his pals come to visit, until he shoos them to their respective beds and finally gets some shut-eye. This is a gentle and empathetic approach to the bedtime skitters, with a good and clear explanation for something that bedevils most kids when there is just enough light to conjure those creepy shadows. Kirwan’s artwork is not just luscious, but also smart and inviting in style, the matte colors effectively evoking scary shadows as well as laughably nonthreatening friends once the light is on. A well-told tale of nighttime collywobbles, suitable for framing. (Picture book. 3-5)
AH HA!
Teen reality TV star Charly and her co-star Liam head to the tiny town of Tallulahville, Minn., to make over an unwilling nerd but discover the mission is more complex than they’d realized. After a dowdy young fan asks for her autograph, Charly becomes inspired to host a makeover show. She and Liam, with whom she has on-screen and off-screen flirtations, pitch the idea to the producers of their regular show, The Extreme Dream Team, and a month later, they’re off to improve the appearance of one of the Tallulahville mayor’s daughters, Nia. Their mission, however, is covert, as Nia does not wish to be made over, and only in the discussion questions following the text does the book invite readers to consider the ethics of publicly giving a makeover to someone who doesn’t want one. Tallulahville is full of compelling mysteries: What happened to make nerdy Nia and her popular twin sister, Mya, so different? Why are the teens at a party acting so strangely? Who is sending Charly cryptic warnings, and what do they mean? Some of the answers, however, are difficult to swallow, and so are some of the book’s premises. Why, for instance, are Charly’s handlers so absent that she can’t get a ride to visit her local contact? A fast-moving, upbeat mystery for readers willing to ignore major plot holes. (Mystery. 12-16)
YETI, TURN OUT THE LIGHT! Long, Greg ; Edmundson, Chris Illus. by Kirwan, Wednesday Chronicle (36 pp.) $12.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4521-1158-2
Mack, Jeff Illus. by Mack, Jeff Chronicle (40 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-4521-1265-7 In Good News, Bad News (2012), Mack experimented with minimalism, creating text from the titular phrases alone; here, he challenges himself to dialogue created from just two letters of the alphabet, doubled and continually rearranged. A chase leads to the actions that elicit the exclamatory responses from the protagonist (a frog) and the other creatures. On the front endpaper, the amphibian floats lazily in a pond: “AAHH!” When a child and his pet come along and squeeze the web-footed victim into a jar, the dog thinks: “AH HA!” As the frog escapes and searches for refuge, each page turn reveals that the supposed “resting place” is actually a new threat; the innocent-looking log turns out to be a snapping crocodile, for instance. When the hero ultimately lunges for the safety of the jar, he shouts a triumphant “HA HA!” to the incredulous animals he has outsmarted. The closing endpapers reveal a circular resolution. Mack’s mixed-media scenes are filled with bold diagonal lines that explode with energy and caricatures that leap or stretch across the gutter. The surprise of each metamorphosis and the resourcefulness of the plucky hero will engage young viewers, while beginning readers will find the elegant simplicity of the text rewarding and clever. Speech bubbles change color according to the voice. The ecologically sound and emotionally satisfying ending is sure to please all ages. (Picture book. 2-6)
When a yeti gets a case of the heebiejeebies, then something clearly is amiss. Readers meet Long and Edmundson’s Yeti, a yeti, as the day draws to a close. He heads to his cave, has some spaghetti and meatballs, flosses and hits the sack. But Yeti can’t sleep, as shadows lurk, “dart[ing] frightfully near! // They dance up the wall, / and, my, are they scary! / Oh, what could they be? / Yeti is wary....” Yeti flicks on the light. Three jewel-eyed bunnies stand there. The rabbits join Yeti in bed, off goes the light, and back |
kirkus.com
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children ’s
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teen
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15 june 2013
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103