Carrot

Fridays Featuring Flintridge – Boo!

Catherine Linka shares her picks for …

Books Featuring Monsters

This fall’s Halloween and monster-themed picture books are the funniest and most charming in years. Read one of these books aloud,and I think your kids will probably laugh as hard as I did.

In THE MONSTERS’ MONSTER ($16.99, Little, Brown Books For Young Readers, ages 3-6) by Patrick McDonnell, three horrible little monsters, Grouch, Grump and Gloom ‘n’ Doom create a huge Frankenstein-style monster to scare everyone. But Monster turns out to be the kindest, sweetest monster they never expected. A great book about friendship and gratitude.

Fans of MADELINE will laugh at FRANKENSTEIN: A Monstrous Parody ($14.99, Feiwel & Friends, ages 4 and up) by Rick Walton and Nathan Hale where “In a creepy old castle, all covered with spines, lived twelve ugly monsters in two crooked lines.”

In CREEPY CARROTS ($16.99, Simon & Schuster, ages 3 and up) by Aaron Reynolds, Jasper Rabbit steals carrots from Crackenhopper Field. Is it guilt or is it real when he starts hearing carrots creep after him? Kids will smile when they see that the carrots have the last laugh. NOTE:  Read the GRWR review of this book by clicking here.

SPIKE : THE MIXED-UP MONSTER ($16.99, Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, ages 4 and up), by Susan Hood with illustrations by Melissa Sweet, is great for smaller children who will cheer to see little SPIKE save the day. Bright colors, and lively art tell the story of Spike who wants to scare everyone around the pond, but they all think he’s adorable until a gila monster appears, and Spike gets his chance to be a monster.

Please visit the Flintridge Bookstore today to pick up your copy of these great books, buy gifts, enjoy their extensive selection of other great reads  and relax over a great cup of coffee.  Also visit the website at www.flintridgebooks.com to keep up-to-date with story times, author events and other exciting special events.

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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.

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