Well, it’s about 3 months until my newest picture book, CREEPY CARROTS is released (the scheduled release date is August 21).
I’m really quite excited about this book, and it seems that others are too. Kirkus just put out their advanced review of the book (a starred review!), and their response is lovely!
Here’s the full review. Enjoy!
Creepy Carrots
By Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown
(S&S BFYR; ISBN: 9781442402973; August 2012; Summer catalog)
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field. Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach. Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
May 3rd, 2012 at 11:08 pm
This looks awesome. Can’t wait to read it. Let me know how I can help get the word out.
May 7th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Thanks, Jason! Here’s a step by step guide for you and all who are interested in getting the word out:
1. Tell every kid you know!
2. Tell every parent, teacher and librarian you know. Use Facebook, Twitter, and any social media that I’m not aware of yet!
3. And lastly, but possibly most helpful of all…buy 5,000 copies!
There you go! Nothing to it!
May 7th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
No problem! Consider steps 1 & 2 done! I will get to step 3 as soon as I get my wife to agree to that second mortgage. Small price to pay for plenty of copies of a quality children’s book.
May 7th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
LOL. You, sir, know a good value when you see one.
September 19th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
hee hee hee. i read this book this morning to my preschool storytime kids. They got a kick out of it (although one little one said she was going to have dreams about creepy carrots…) Great story, and I’m sure it will get checkout out a lot at my little library.