World’s Scariest Prisons. By
Emma Carlson Berne. Scholastic. $8.99.
Lulu and the Witch Baby. By
Jane O’Connor. Illustrated by Bella Sinclair. Harper. $16.99.
I Am a Witch’s Cat. By
Harriet Muncaster. Harper. $15.99.
Splat the Cat and the
Pumpkin-Picking Plan. By Catherine Hapka. Illustrations by Loryn Brantz.
HarperFestival. $4.99.
A book about prisons for
young readers is a bit strange, but Emma Carlson Berne’s is well-done for any
family that wants to explore the topic. Filled with photographs and facts, World’s Scariest Prisons describes 20 places
of incarceration, from the well-known Roman Coliseum and Tower of London to the
less-familiar Livingston Sugar House and Squirrel Cage Jail. Packed with photos
and with explanations of the way prisons are or have been used – for political
opponents and debtors as well as those convicted of crimes in the modern sense
– the book shows how prison life has changed over many years. At Fleet Prison
in London, for example, which operated from 1197 to 1842, wealthier prisoners
could pay for better food and accommodations or even to live outside the walls.
At Carandiru Penitentiary in Brazil, which operated from 1956 to 2002 and was
once the largest prison in South America, 10 men might be squeezed into a cell
meant for one or two, and prisoners were not allowed sunlight or fresh air. World’s Scariest Prisons overdoes some
of its narrative through overuse of words written entirely in capital letters,
and not necessarily frightening ones: “Burlington County Prison was unique
because it had ventilation, FIREPLACES in cells, a GARDEN, and COMMON ROOMS,
all of which were installed for the prisoners’ benefit.” But the book is packed
with interesting information – including the fact that the word “penitentiary”
was used to indicate that prisoners were supposed to be penitent for their
crimes, and “reformatory” was used to show that the institution’s purpose was
to reform rather than just to punish. The book discusses prison escapes, prisons
whose reputations were worse than the reality (the Bastille, Alcatraz), and
some of the famous people who were held in various prisons: Nelson Mandela,
Voltaire, John Donne, John McCain. World’s
Scariest Prisons handles its unusual topic in an interesting and, despite
the title, in a not-too-frightening way.
Nor is there anything really
scary about the Halloween-themed books that start to proliferate every summer
in anticipation of October 31. Some elements of some of the books could be a little frightening, but
authors for kids try hard to be sure that everything that happens is fun and,
if a little unusual, never really chilling. Jane O’Connor’s 1986 story, Lulu and the Witch Baby, for instance,
could be scary for showing a girl with magic powers trying to use them to make
her baby sister disappear forever. But Lulu’s spell does not work, and when
Lulu even thinks that it might have succeeded, she gets very upset – so even
though Witch Baby gets in Lulu’s way all the time and is cutely irritating in
the way that only a baby can manage, this becomes a story of family love
overcoming temporary troubles. With its new, pleasantly rounded illustrations
by Bella Sinclair, Lulu and the Witch
Baby is offered in the “I Can Read!” series as a Level 2 book
(“high-interest stories for developing readers”), and kids ages 4-8 at its
reading level will find it much more pleasant than frightening.
I Am a Witch’s Cat is not scary at all – it is, in fact,
delightful. Harriet Muncaster here creates an unusual picture book whose
illustrations are made of paper, fabric and mixed media, which she combines
with watercolors and turns into 3D-appearing scenes. The scenes are Halloween-ish,
with the little girl narrator dressed as a black cat and talking about her mother
the witch, but there is really nothing witchy at all going on here, and nothing
magical beyond the special bond between mother and daughter. Everyday things
become delights in this tale: the girl “knows” her mom is a witch because of
all the strange potion bottles in the bathroom, and because of the “magical
herbs” in their garden, and the “bubbling, hissing potions” that mother and
daughter prepare together for meals. Again and again, the girl endearingly
misinterprets what her mom does as being some form of witchiness, and again and
again, the little “witch’s cat” says and shows how much she enjoys her
particular role in the house. Granted, this is a tale intended for Halloween,
but the love and joy it reflects make it a delight anytime, in any season.
Splat the Cat is fun just
about anytime, too. Rob Scotton’s creation, with his mischievous grin and good
friend Seymour the mouse, appears seasonally in a Halloween-themed sticker book
written by Catherine Hapka and illustrated by Loryn Brantz. As usual, Splat
messes things up amusingly – helping rake leaves, for instance, but then being
unable to resist jumping in them and messing everything up again. After that
happens, Splat’s mom decides that Splat and Seymour can do more good somewhere
else – by picking out a pumpkin at Farmer Patch’s place. Splat and Seymour have
Halloween fun at the farm for a while, then start searching for just the right
pumpkin – and then, when they find it, discover that it is much too big for
them to carry home. So Splat decides to roll it, and thus begins the book’s
final misadventure, as the giant pumpkin, with Splat perched precariously on
top, rolls down the road, over a bridge and eventually into Splat’s front yard
(shattering the gate in the process). Splat’s mom, obviously realizing that
where Splat’s adventures are concerned, things could have been a lot worse,
compliments Splat and pronounces the pumpkin “perfect.” There is really nothing
scary here at all, even when the pumpkin starts rolling away with Splat yelling
“help” – because readers will know that everything will work out just fine. The
31 self-adhesive stickers included in the book guarantee that the fun will
extend beyond the story itself, and maybe even beyond Halloween.
No comments:
Post a Comment