Review by New York Times Review
The fad for mock encyclopedias continues, as "the Ghost Society" - pictured in a smudgy portrait at the front - engagingly presents its "never-before-seen archives," which detail manifestations, apparitions and other paranormal phenomena. Its entries range from Japanese ghosts to a handsome cross-section of a Victorian home afflicted with poltergeists, and the tone is authoritative if always tongue in cheek: "To see a ghost move swiftly across the floor without feet will be disquieting. But remember, he'd have feet, if he could." JIM COPP, WILL YOU TELL ME A STORY? Three Uncommonly Clever Tales. Written and performed by Jim Copp. Illustrated by Lindsay duPont. Harcourt. $17.95. (Ages 6 to 9) Jim Copp (1913-99) made nine strange and wickedly hilarious children's records, attracting a durable cult following. Three of his best routines have been collected here, with a CD of the original 1958 recordings: about Kate Higgins, Miss Goggins - "who was not only very ugly, but had a temper" - and the forgetful Martha Matilda O'Toole. With witty illustrations by Lindsay duPont. FLY, CHER AMI, FLY! The Pigeon Who Saved the Lost Battalion. By Robert Burleigh. Illustrated by Robert MacKenzie. Abrams. $16.95. (Ages 5 to 8) During World War I, hundreds of carrier pigeons bore messages to and from the front. This is the story of Cher Ami, who evaded German gunfire (and a trained hawk) to bring news of the famous "Lost Battalion," trapped behind enemy lines in France, to American headquarters: "He ... had done what no man could do! He had saved the soldiers!" Cher Ami also had a happy ending: Badly wounded on his last flight but alive, he was fitted with a tiny wooden leg and retired a hero. PRESIDENT PENNYBAKER By Kate Feiffer. Illustrated by Diane Goode. Paul Wiseman/Simon & Schuster. $ 16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) One of the season's wackier election-related books couldn't be better timed: the story of Luke Pennybaker, "the youngest boy ever to run for president." During his whirlwind campaign Luke vows "to make life fair," among other implausible promises. The message, though, is mixed: Luke ultimately walks away from the White House (now painted orange), leaving his running mate-his dog-in charge. This is supposed to be a happy ending? ON A SCARY SCARY NIGHT Written and illustrated by Walter Wick. Scholastic. $13.99. (Ages 4 and up) For his "Can You See What I See?" books, Walter Wick builds and photographs miniature assemblages of remarkably lifelike scenes. This new Halloween version, loosely based on the tale "In a Dark, Dark Wood," is once again chock-full of the kinds of details that sharp-eyed children love to spot, as the story ingeniously goes in for its close-up down a dark village street, through a door, up the stairs and into a "scary scary cupboard" where a "spirit potion with a leaky cork" sits ready to release a hollow-eyed ghost. "BOO!" LOOKING FOR MIZA By Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Photographs by Peter Greste. Scholastic. $16.99. (Ages 7 and up) The team that specializes in baby animals in trouble (think of Knut, the polar bear cub) tells the story of Miza, an endangered mountain gorilla. She's lost, and then rescued by her father. It's a formula, but a good one. JULIE JUST RAISE YOUR HANDS Are kids following the presidential race? What issues do they really care about? Tell us at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 27, 2009]
Review by Booklist Review
Dynamic and dreadfully funny, this companion to Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich (2006) continues to follow the exploits of Frankenstein (the monster, not the doctor) and a ragtag cast of monsters in loosely connected scenes, all illustrated in diverse styles and written in a variety of forms, most of them rhyming. Frank's betrothal bookends the magazine-like segments, beginning with a chapter in comics format in which he visits his fiancée's parents, followed by another chapter, at the book's end, with a more traditional picture-book format presentation of Dracula's unfortunate encounter with garlic bread at the wedding reception. In between, the headless horseman updates his blog, and there are recurring vignettes of Edgar Allan Poe's creative process, to which the raven quoth: What a bore. Not just for Halloween, nor just for the young, this offers everyone something to laugh about, from jokes about the Sphinx using the expansive desert as a litter box to alien e-mail spam (that would be E.T.-Mail, of course) promising bigger . . . antennae. The quick pacing and dynamic design will appeal to all attention spans, and so next the raven should quoth: We want more! --Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Starred Review. With maniacal glee, Rex (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich) delivers spot-on rhymes about B-movie monsters, loosely organized around the nuptials of Frankenstein and his bride. An oil painting of the wedding cake is as creamy as a Wayne Thiebaud confection, and an author bio in haiku silences quibblers: He knows Frankenstein's/ the doctor, not the monster/ Enough already. In a digital comics sequence, Frankenstein's mother-in-law frets over her daughter's resurrection and engagement (I'm an open-minded person.... but I never thought my little girl would marry someone green. There, I said it); later, the Bride questions her betrothed but decides, I'm not getting any less dead. Rex's ideal audience may be pop-culture buffs: he spoofs Peanuts with a vampiric Charlie Brown; plans the Frankensteins' reception menu around monsters' food allergies (no garlic for Dracula); sets up the Headless Horseman's photo blog on the tribulations of having a pumpkin head; and creates a running gag about The Raven, where a sarcastic bird mocks Edgar Allan Poe. Rex's eclectic imagery and freewheeling verse will have readers going back for seconds. Ages 5-10. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Rex returns with a sophisticated and stylish sequel to his sidesplitting Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich (Harcourt, 2006). From a stream of consciousness that seems to have retained and remixed an assemblage of horror movies, literature classes, comic strips, and observations of the human condition, the narrative flows despite multiple mediums and frequent interruptions. Children who have seen the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein will get the most out of the framing story, told initially in sequential panels and featuring the conically coiffed mate-to-be in a lively exchange with her mother over marrying someone with green skin and the looming wedding expenses coming just hours after the girl's funeral. Interspersed with the marital plot are blog posts from the Headless Horseman (exhibiting photographs of his decomposing head and the sensible canned substitute) and glimpses into Edgar Allan Poe's study, rendered in shadowy charcoals. These scenes are hilarious for students in the know. Rex channels the tortured poet's meter, internal rhyme scheme, and alliteration throughout his parody during which Poe struggles for the right choice in a crossword puzzle involving the wife of a "veep": "But what the devil is a veep?" he weeps, as lo, the clock strikes four. Quoth the raven, 'Tipper Gore.'" Godzilla haikus, a Peanuts-inspired Dracula Junior, endpapers that give the raven the last word-there's something here for the kid in everyone. This gifted artist, whose clever wordplay reveals a wonderfully warped sense of comedy, has whipped up another winner.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. 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 Kirkus Book Review
A snort-inducing companion to 2006's Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, Rex's return to horror-poetry finds the green-skinned monster getting ready for his wedding, complete with a comic-strip visit to his future mother-in-law ("I'm not trying to be mean, but I never thought my little girl would be marrying someone green") and best man Dracula encountering garlic bread at the buffet. In between, Edgar Allan Poe struggles repeatedly to find a rhyme scheme, the Headless Horseman blogs about the difficulties of using a pumpkin for a head and a quartet of haiku celebrates Japanese monster cinema ("A winter wager: / Will Godzilla's tongue freeze to / Mechagodzilla?"). It's a dizzying pastiche of artistic and poetic styles that includes an advertisement for witch diet products ("...with only one bucket of water a day!") and a faux-Peanuts Sunday strip featuring a Charlie Brown-like Dracula Jr. Some of the humor will resonate more with adults than kids, but there's something in here for just about everyone--even a grouchy raven. (Picture book/poetry. 7-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
