SurLaLune's Review: Just in time for Halloween, the prolific team of Berlie Doherty and Jane Ray offer a lyrical ghost story. Jinnie Ghost, "thin as the wind," sweeps from house to house causing the strange night noises and other phenomena known so well by children. The children see her, but Jinnie Ghost "doesn't turn her head" if she hears them. As she flits through sleeping children's rooms, each child has a fantastic flight of imagination.

Doherty's poetical text are a perfect match with Ray's eerie nighttime illustrations. However, Jinnie Ghost is hauntingly real and may be too frightening for toddlers and some preschoolers despite the gentle text. For children wanting some slight shivers, this is a recommended read.

SurLaLune's Review: Kenyon Cox authored and illustrated the original edition of Mixed Beasts first published in 1904. Wallace Edwards, a respected Canadian illustrator, has used Cox's verses to inspire his own artwork, maintaining an old-fashioned feel with a somewhat more modern design. Children with a sense of the absurd will enjoy Edwards' elaborate illustrations and Cox's short verses in this new edition. The Rhinocerostrich, the Kangarooster, and the Octopussycat are wonderfully ridiculous but strangely plausible with Edwards' presentation.

A two page appendix offers a pictorial listing of 32 beasts, from Army Ant to Spider Monkey to Zebrafinch, whose names lead to a more literal vision provided by Edwards.

Younger children may find some of the images oddly disturbing, but most will enjoy the zany content hidden behind a facetiously serious facade.

Pair with another new release with a lighter tone:
Hieronymous Betts and His Unusual Pets
by Mark Robertson

SurLaLune's Review: Hieronymous Betts has a large menagerie of strange mixed beasts as pets. From his slugapotamus to his whatchamacallit, we are introduced to an array of disgustingly fun pets. But Hieronymous knows of something even stranger--his brother! As a celebration of the absurd and the joy of brothers, children will enjoy rereading this book over and over to study the strange beasts and relive the surprise ending. A lighthearted romp through the imagination with an ending full of brotherly love.

Highly recommended.

Pair with another new release with a more serious tone:
Mixed Beasts
illustrated by Wallace Edwards
verses by Kenyon Cox

SurLaLune's Review: