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Summary
Summary
They're all here! Everybody's favorite monsters are just going about their business when a plucky little boy wanders into their cuckoo house. And what does he want? He wants Mommy!No matter how scary these monsters are, there's no besting a little boy who's looking for his mommy. In one hilarious pop-up extravaganza after another, this kid shows them a thing or two.
Author Notes
Arthur Yorinks was born in Roslyn, New York on August 21, 1953. His first children's book, Sid and Sol, was published in 1977. He has written over 30 children's books including Louis the Fish, It Happened in Pinsk, Company's Coming, Christmas in July, Whitefish Will Rides Again!, The Miami Giant, and Tomatoes from Mars. Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski, won the 1987 Caldecott award. He has also written opera librettos, ballets, plays and film scripts.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-This pop-up tour de force abounds with humor, vibrant artwork, and visual fireworks. A sweet-faced tyke, attired in a sky-blue onesie and fuzzy hat, toddles into a creepy house. Unperturbed by his gruesome surroundings, he encounters one monster after another, calmly asking each, "Mommy?" Although the creatures try their best to scare him, the child's unwavering smile and mischievous actions quickly clarify who's in charge. The youngster corks a ghoul's fang-filled mouth with a pacifier, removes the bolts from Frankenstein's neck, unwraps a startled mummy, and pulls down a werewolf's pants before making his way to the welcoming arms of Frankenstein's bride ("Baby!"). Masterfully illustrated in Sendak's familiar style and muted palette, the almost-wordless pages are chock-full of skeletons, mysterious lab equipment, and strange vessels brimming with unidentifiable contents. Amusing details include a framed baby picture of a dour-faced, diaper-clad Frankenstein and the werewolf's bright-yellow boxers. Each three-dimensional spread features an additional foldout pop-up, adding another element of surprise. The effects are delightful, as characters burst from hiding places with limbs flailing, heads move and eyes open and close, and the mummy-complete with shoelace bandages-spins around and around as the boy tugs a loose end. A fun, not-too-frightening romp that's loaded with child appeal.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Children who get the better of monsters are a Sendak specialty, from Where the Wild Things Are ITALS to Brundibar ITALS. In this light bite of spine-tingling fare created by Sendak, Yorinks (Hey, Al ITALS) and Reinhart (Encyclopedia Prehistorica ITALS)-sort of a dark twist on Are You My Mother? ITALS-a mischievous boy addresses the title question to some unmaternal characters. Sendak's quintessential black-haired boy (with a strong resemblance to Mickey), wearing blue PJs and a red cap, wanders into a haunted house and naively calls, "Mommy?" Stylized, softened characters from Nosferatu and Lon Chaney creature features unfold in 3-D to menace the child, but the boy might as well be saying, "Trick or treat?" because he pulls pranks on everyone. A tall Frankenstein's monster gets ready to stomp on him; in a gatefold at the right-hand side of the spread, the disarming toddler jerks the bolts from the startled monster's neck. On a brick roof, the boy surprises a werewolf and a green goblin; the gatefold reveals the boy yanking down the Wolf Man's jeans to reveal silly boxer shorts, while the goblin giggles. In Reinhart's neatest engineering feat-a spinning dowel-and-string contraption-the not-so-harmless boy spins the white wrappings off an Egyptian "mummy." The title is the book's only word until the conclusion, when the Bride of Frankenstein at last replies to the child's question. Although the illustrious creators do not appear until the back cover, readers cannot miss Sendak's signature graphic style. These gags are not too serious, but the suspenseful setups pointedly suggest humor's power over fear. All ages. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Preschool, Primary) A mad scientist's laboratory provides the setting for Sendak's latest monster-taming session, an elaborately constructed pop-up collaboration with his regular creative partner Yorinks and paper engineer Reinhart in which the premise is sweet and simple. The laboratory doors open on a young boy in blue jammies and a red knit cap descending into this ostensible den of horrors to look for his mother. ""Mommy?""-the book's only text-is the question repeatedly posed to a succession of familiar horror-movie staples, including Nosferatu, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolf Man. Sendak's animated depiction of these ghouls, engineered to leap off the page like actors in a haunted house, exaggerates their features to a comic degree, while the little boy proceeds to defang them even further. Readers open panels to see him calming the vampire with a pacifier, removing Frankenstein's bolts, unraveling the mummy, and pantsing the Wolf Man down to his goofy patterned boxer shorts. The consummate staging of this production doesn't mask the mischief at its heart, leading to a twist ending that sounds a familiar Sendakian theme: all of us, even mommies, are monsters sometimes. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Sendak's first foray into the world of pop-up books is a brilliant success. After Yorinks sets up the Are You My Mother? theme with a twist, Sendak makes it his own, and Reinhardt adds the surprises as a little Mickey-like boy moves through a haunted house, from monster to monster, looking for his mother. None of the ghouls stands a chance against the mischievous tyke, as he unscrews Frankenstein's monster's bolts, pulls down the werewolf's pants and spins the Mummy in its own wrapping. This last action makes the most effective use of the pop-up possibilities: When the gatefold is opened, the creature actually spins on a dowel pulled by the boy. The combined talent of Sendak, Yorinks and Reinhardt offers some of the best art and artistry in the genre: As each page is opened, the spread is filled with multiple pop-ups of everything from a bag of "hands" to a snake poking out of a basket, as well as a side gatefold, also a pop-up, illustrating each monster's undoing. The text is only one word--"Mommy?"--until she is found in a surprise ending and answers--you guessed it--"B-A-B-Y!" Readers will answer, "AGAIN!" (Pop-up. All ages) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. As suggested by the author credit, "Scenario by Arthur Yorinks," Sendak's first pop-up book is more situation than story, but it's a situation well matched to the artist's cherished themes and darkest sensibilities. The mostly wordless tale features a pajama-clad toddler, who seeks his mother in a graveyard crypt (the titular query, set within speech balloons, comprises most of the text), encountering a series of Halloween-themed Wild Things along the way. The ambiguous ending, suggesting either a joyful reunion or an imminent babynapping by a zombielike Bride of Frankenstein, is as twisted, in its way, as the crying pig trussed up beneath a staircase on the first spread--a perverse, mostly hidden detail that will either horrify or amuse those who discover it. Although contributions by paper engineer Matthew Reinhardt offer some whimsical moments, Sendak's staunchest fans may object to the way the mechanics fracture the artwork, compromising their idol's sure lines and celebrated design sense. Still, the combination of a legendary illustrator with a gee-whiz format will make this a strong contender at Halloween, especially among children sophisticated enough to see the Munsters-0 esque creatures as creep-show spoofs, not genuine threats. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist