Scared Silly
Reviewer Rita Zobayan gets hoppy and in a Halloween mood.
Have you ever had the sneaking suspicion that you are being stalked? Perhaps someone or something is at the root of your suspicions? Jasper Rabbit believes that villainous vegetables, namely creepy carrots, are on his tail. What is a rabbit to do when the vegetable he loves the most won’t leave him alone?
Written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown, Creepy Carrots ($16.99, Simon & Schuster, ages 3 and up) is an amusing read with a shadowy twist. We meet Jasper, consumer of carrots, who has a sneaking suspicion that there is more than meets the eye regarding the carrots of Crackenhopper Field. Could it be that the carrots are alive and following him?! Is Jasper imagining the bevy of beta-carotene watching his every move?!
Jasper was about to help himself to a victory snack…when he heard it. The soft…sinister…tunktunktunk of carrots creeping. He turned…but there was nothing there. Just my imagination, he thought. But he hopped a little faster. That night, as he was brushing his teeth…there they were! Jasper whipped around…but nothing. He laughed at himself, picked his toothbrush off the floor, and went to bed…quickly.
Jasper’s growing unease of carrots is portrayed in a kid-friendly manner. My three year old daughter was held captive by this storyline and by the pictures of common items that children can so easily mistake for scary bad guys (or scary carrots). This clever read is enhanced by the cartoon-like illustrations. Set to a simple color palette of black, white, gray and orange, the illustrations seem like a film noir in charcoal. The expressions on the carrots are fun to pick out.
Creepy Carrots makes for an entertaining Halloween or meal-time read. Just be sure to watch your back the next time you’re in the produce section of your grocery store. Click here to see a video interview with the illustrator, Peter Brown.