![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
More spooky picture books! Wolves was so good, y'all. Other than redundancy, I'm not sure why I don't have a tag for my wolves-/werewolves-/red riding hood-as-metaphor Thing. Here I have fairy tales, on Goodreads I have werewolves; this is neither but it's still deeply relevant to my interests. Anyway I keep rereading it and my singular regret is that the destroyed cover looks slashed by a razor, not by claws; but I forgive on account of the chewed corner.
Title: The Haunted Lake
Author: P.J. Lynch
Published: Candlewick Press, 2020
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 50
Total Page Count: 377,175
Text Number: 1398
Read Because: reading spoopy picture books because it's autumn, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A father, son, and young lover fish on a lake that sits above a flooded city. The beginning is a little insipid in both narrative and art, and that's okay: things kick off when the son uses the clocktower that breaches the lake's surface to enter an underwater world. The grief and loss of those above is set against the dark blue whimsy of the world below; it's a cute conceit, not especially complex but enthusiastically spooky, with floaty, otherworldly vibes.
This is my second picture book in a row which feels not inappropriate for kids but not written for kids, either; kidlit only by virtue of being a picture book. As an adult reader, I dig it! But I'm curious how it works for children.
Title: Wolves
Author: Emily Gravett
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006 (2005)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 377,505
Text Number: 1400
Read Because: reading spoopy picture books because it's autumn, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Book-within-a-book is always a fun conceit but a picture book carries it off especially well, as the bunny reader literally walks into his book about wolves, moving between their claws and up a long furry tail. It's clever (the delightful forest-wolf panel), silly, immersive (the rough texture of the fur, the sheer scale of the beast), and sincerely scary (the final spread is so good). I keep reading picture books that feel not quite right for kids and it's not an accident: I'm seeking out ones that seem spooky and weird. I have no idea if this lands as fun-scary or just plain frightening for the intended audience; reviews indicate adult readers are doubtful and that it's a reoccurring trend in Gravett's work, so I look forward to picking up more; luckily I don't really need to worry, I can just enjoy it, and I sure did.
Title: This Is Not My Hat (Hat Trilogy Book 2)
Author: Jon Klassen
Published: Candlewick Press, 2012
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 377,545
Text Number: 1401
Read Because: found on this list of picture books with dark humor, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is objectively good: I like the palette and the texture, and the interplay between protagonist's unreliable narration and the plot of the panels, particularly the movement between pages, is really effective. I dig the open but ominous ending. But it didn't really get me, yanno? Maybe because the dark humor, however effective, doesn't have a vibe that resonates with me. (I don't like water settings.) Maybe it's so tightly written as to feel like a gimmick. Whatever the reason, liked it but don't know that I'll remember it.
Title: The Haunted Lake
Author: P.J. Lynch
Published: Candlewick Press, 2020
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 50
Total Page Count: 377,175
Text Number: 1398
Read Because: reading spoopy picture books because it's autumn, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A father, son, and young lover fish on a lake that sits above a flooded city. The beginning is a little insipid in both narrative and art, and that's okay: things kick off when the son uses the clocktower that breaches the lake's surface to enter an underwater world. The grief and loss of those above is set against the dark blue whimsy of the world below; it's a cute conceit, not especially complex but enthusiastically spooky, with floaty, otherworldly vibes.
This is my second picture book in a row which feels not inappropriate for kids but not written for kids, either; kidlit only by virtue of being a picture book. As an adult reader, I dig it! But I'm curious how it works for children.
Title: Wolves
Author: Emily Gravett
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006 (2005)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 377,505
Text Number: 1400
Read Because: reading spoopy picture books because it's autumn, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Book-within-a-book is always a fun conceit but a picture book carries it off especially well, as the bunny reader literally walks into his book about wolves, moving between their claws and up a long furry tail. It's clever (the delightful forest-wolf panel), silly, immersive (the rough texture of the fur, the sheer scale of the beast), and sincerely scary (the final spread is so good). I keep reading picture books that feel not quite right for kids and it's not an accident: I'm seeking out ones that seem spooky and weird. I have no idea if this lands as fun-scary or just plain frightening for the intended audience; reviews indicate adult readers are doubtful and that it's a reoccurring trend in Gravett's work, so I look forward to picking up more; luckily I don't really need to worry, I can just enjoy it, and I sure did.
Title: This Is Not My Hat (Hat Trilogy Book 2)
Author: Jon Klassen
Published: Candlewick Press, 2012
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 377,545
Text Number: 1401
Read Because: found on this list of picture books with dark humor, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is objectively good: I like the palette and the texture, and the interplay between protagonist's unreliable narration and the plot of the panels, particularly the movement between pages, is really effective. I dig the open but ominous ending. But it didn't really get me, yanno? Maybe because the dark humor, however effective, doesn't have a vibe that resonates with me. (I don't like water settings.) Maybe it's so tightly written as to feel like a gimmick. Whatever the reason, liked it but don't know that I'll remember it.
