Publishers Weekly - 02.09.2019

Review_CHILDREN’S

106 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Review_CHILDREN’S Review_CHILDREN’S

mummy/Bride of Frankenstein hybrid,

and Baby is a wee vampire—live in a

haunted house “with room enough for

four,” writes Marie. Despite having a ghost

dog and a bell tower full of bats, they each

yearn for a missing someone. Enter green-

skinned Moldilocks, who, drawn by a scent

that “smelled

like home,

something she

hadn’t enjoyed

in a long, long

time,” lumbers

into the momen-

tarily vacated

Scare house and

wreaks the same

not everyone will agree with the deeply

didactic messaging (“You only tell when

someone is hurt, could get hurt, or you

need help from a grown-up,” writes Sileo),

Haley’s slightly spooky school backdrop

(books, spiders) and the rambunctious cast

in pointed hats may help the lesson go

down easier. A guide for “Grown-Up

Witches” addressing this behavior with

children is included. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Moldilocks and the Three Scares:

A Zombie Tale

Lynne Marie, illus. by David Rodriguez Lorenzo.

Sterling, $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-454930-61-7

The three Scares—Papa resembles

Frankenstein’s monster, Mama is a

Snitchy Witch

Frank J. Sileo, illus. by Mackenzie Haley.

Magination, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4338-

3022-8

No one likes a snitch—and that’s a hard

potion for young Wanda to swallow at

Camp Spellbound, where tattling on her

fellow witches inevitably gets her attention,

but not the kind she craves. In dramatic

reports to the Head Witch, Wanda calls

out Wendy’s line cutting and Winnie’s

fingerprints on the crystal ball, quickly

alienating her from the other campers.

When they’ve had enough, the witches-

in-training secretly gather in the dungeon

to cast a comeuppance-flavored spell that

prevents Wanda from squealing. Though

Real-Life Mysteries

Susan Martineau, illus. by Vicky Barker. Kane Miller, $6.99 paper

(48p) ISBN 978-1-61067-952-7

This energetic, hands-on sleuthing primer provides readers

with facts, prompts, and visuals to hone their investigative skills

as they speculate on intriguing and inexplicable phenomena.

Martineau follows succinct yet conversational descriptions of

known information surrounding each of 11 mysteries by a

“Case File” recapping “the evidence so far.” Among the

alleged incidents examined are stories of Bigfoot encounters,

benign specters, cursed objects, UFO sightings, incidents of

spontaneous human combustion, and unsolved disappearances.

Jam-packed pages feature a bulletin-board format and

Barker’s colorful matte illustrations, so readers can evaluate

such data as witness statements and proffered theories to help

them draw their own conclusions to an array of unanswered

questions. Bundling together mystery and history, this

volume offers armchair detectives a thought-provoking

tutorial on deduction and conjecture. Ages 7–10. (Sept.)

Sleuth & Solve: 20+ Mind-Twisting Mysteries

Ana Gallo, illus. by Victor Escandell, trans. from the Catalan by

Feather Flores. Chronicle, $17.99 (64p) ISBN 978-1-4521-7713-7

In Escandell’s visual adaptations of mini mysteries by

Gallo, quirky cartoons flesh out brief descriptions of curious

goings-on. Encouraging readers to make a game out of solving

the puzzlers (“as a family,” “in teams,” or “by yourself”), the

creators rank them by difficulty (though the criteria seem

somewhat random), awarding commensurate points for the

correct answers. Each puzzle is also labeled as requiring either

logic or imagination to solve, though the line between those

two classifications tends to blur. There are some cleverly

concocted conundrums (Why did a man who neglected to

turn on his light at bedtime confess his guilt to the police?),

while others are inanely unconvincing (Was it a family

member or the gardener who killed a man in his mansion?).

The exaggerated, caricatured style results in a few images that

veer toward cultural stereotype, particularly in “The Sultan’s

Successor.” An uneven assemblage of not-so-challenging

brainteasers. Ages 8–up. (Aug.)

Strange but True: 10 of the World’s Greatest

Mysteries Explained

Kathryn Hulick, illus. by Gordy Wright. Frances Lincoln, $22.99

(128p) ISBN 978-1-78603-784-8

In her cogent introduction to this evenhanded exploration

of unsolved and oft-debated phenomena (aliens, ghosts,

clairvoyance), Hulick encourages readers to deliberate on

each mystery independently and provides sage guidelines

for reaching conclusions. She advises

kids to “check the sources. Interrogate

the evidence. Watch out for coinci-

dences. And remember that simple

explanations are more likely to be

true. At the same time, keep an open

mind.” The author follows her own

counsel in her thoroughly researched

and diligently documented accounts, which integrate scientific

data, information about the extraordinary workings of the

human brain, the power of imagination, and a healthy dose

of skepticism. Wright’s expansive mixed-media illustrations

underscore the drama and eeriness of many curiosities spotlighted,

including the search for Atlantis and other alleged lost

worlds, beliefs that aliens visited ancient civilizations, and

the possibility of returning to life after death. Ages 10–14.

(Oct.)

Perplexing Puzzlers

The game’s afoot in three interactive mystery volumes.

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