April 19, 2024
PreS-Gr 2-"Imagine finding the key to the best day ever" opens this cheerful story of Halloween fun. Reluctant reader Henry's chance encounter with the whimsical, Dickensian-named Griselda Snook leads him to a marvelous bookstore where, alongside a bevy of monstrous guests including werewolves, mummies, and vampires, he discovers the magic of stories. Unfortunately, Timms himself does not succeed at tapping this vein of magic. While parents and teachers may be enticed by the surface trappings of Halloween, the book contains no particularly deep connection to the holiday. Borio's cheery cartoon illustrations, featuring mostly grayscale environments populated with bright oranges, purples, greens, and browns, sprinkle in seasonal decorations aplenty: bats, spiders, skulls, jack-o'-lanterns. However, save for a brief spooky story time with the delightfully extravagant grande dame Magenta Screech, the real essence of the tradition-eeriness, mischief, shivers of excitement-is missing. The Halloween setting could lift right out of the book and leave the story with its central theme of the power of reading perfectly intact. Moreover, the plot is thin, with problems solved immediately or brushed aside, little in the way of narrative stakes, and a pat conclusion. VERDICT While the message celebrating reading is commendable, the execution is unsatisfying.-Jonah Dragan
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 17, 2024
“I’m not really into books,” says Timms’s protagonist, Henry, but the boy changes his tune when by happenstance he’s drafted as assistant to shop owner Griselda Snook, and helps out at her Halloween-themed bookstore. On its opening day, predominantly orange books tower in piles “like stalagmites” and cobwebs abound. Borio’s peppy cartooned illustrations portray the bookshop as an inclusive gathering place for book lovers of all ages, where Frankenstein’s monster can leave carrying a book entitled Dead Funny Jokes and storytime stars a famous witch. With Henry’s help, the day proves magical by every measure—even turning Henry himself into a confirmed bibliophile. Griselda is right: “Pick the perfect book and the whole world opens wide!” Both Henry and Griselda have brown skin; background characters are shown with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 3–7.
December 1, 2024
A boy learns to love reading--with help from a most unusual bookseller. Henry isn't a book lover. But when he helpfully returns a dropped key to Griselda Snook in time for her bookstore's opening, she invites him in. She puts out a plate of doughnuts, but the plate quickly runs off. Henry chases it to the cookbook section, where he bumps into a Frankenstein's monster in search of a joke book. Griselda makes a suggestion, which Henry tracks down. Together, the two find "exciting," "noisy," and "spook-tacularly silly" offerings for a bevy of ghoulish customers, among them a werewolf, a mummy, ghosts, and a skeleton. But Henry still hasn't found a book for himself. When a volume falls off the shelf and unleashes a dragon, Henry searches for a spell to tame it--to no avail. A witch named Magenta Screech arrives to put things right, tells the bookstore patrons a series of scary stories, and finally hands Henry the perfect tale. The story is slight--and it's never made clear just what makes Magenta's suggestion the ideal offering--but the spooky setting is bewitching, and the sentiments are unimpeachable. Wiry linework and a matte black-and-orange color scheme make the Halloween theme clear, while the assorted monsters are clearly delighted to be here; details will tempt viewers to linger in this bookstore. Henry and Griselda are brown-skinned, while Magenta is pale-skinned; human characters are diverse. A sweetly spooky tribute to reading and bookshops.(Picture book. 4-8)
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