Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod

If you ever wondered whether a single, closed door can be exciting, this book answers that question and more.

The Grunions, a group of three children, live in a very large house which has many, many doors. Geraldine loves to open every door she finds. Gerald likes to keep them closed. Sheila spends time wondering about the only door in the house, which has never, ever, ever been opened...not for the 150 years since it was first built. The three are determined in their own ways, to handle the situation with the closed door. But none of them consider what might happen if the door ever does open.

This book is described as a meeting of Shel Silverstein, Lewis Carroll, and Pete Mondrian, and while this first sounded like a pretty wide range to me, it does fit. Sometimes, there's a poetic feel, and yet, it never really goes that direction. There is a good heaping of quirky adventure. Then, there are hints of a message, which whispers behind a very ridiculous back and forth between the characters....or maybe, behind that closed door.

The three kids are normal and easy to understand. Each of them has a very different (and stubborn) personalities, and that already promises quite a bit of fun as they clash against each other. But the true fun comes when imagination explodes. At that moment, the mystery turns into an amazing adventure with silliness and tension.

The illustrations and text are very well done. 3D flair makes each image seem to stand off the page to add a hint of life. While most of the scenes stay in black and white with simple and thick lines, there are pops of color right where it matters most. It's a technique, which is handled masterfully. The text flows with purpose, making every word count and plays as much as the images with various font sizes. It makes a great read-aloud and works for early readers, too.

Listeners will laugh, giggle, gasp, cringe, scoot to the edge of their seats, smile, and probably be saying that beloved phrase—"again".… (meer)

Get ready for an unique ride because books eat kids, leading to odd adventures, and things aren't quite the same ever again.

Imagination takes flight in this original tale, which looks at the idea of getting lost in a book...or 'eaten', in this case. Now, while this is the main theme behind the tale, it probably (most likely) isn't one readers/listeners of the intended age group will understand without some explanation. But this isn't a problem, since understanding that concept isn't necessary to enjoy this read. Plus, it does open the doors to discussion, which is never a bad thing. Either way, this more metaphorical theme will delight adults, too.

This read is fun. It's silly, quirky, and takes off in unexpected directions. All the while, readers are pushed to draw some of their own ideas about what's going on, since the text delivers main moments but leaves space open around the sides to fill in the holes. The illustrations invite to fantasy and story-telling as they build out the scenes but, again, allow listeners to fit in their own bits of imagination, too.

The text and illustrations are fun to gaze at and do invite to play. The style gives a textured/3D effect, which works very well with the theme of diving into a book. Bright and bold colors clash with the black and white to bring life. I enjoyed the monsters with their general forms, which also leave much to the listeners own thoughts and fun.

It's a wild read and fantastical, but it's exactly this which makes it so enjoyable.
I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed the fun quite a bit.… (meer)