Publisher's Weekly Review
The three Scares--Papa resembles Frankenstein's monster, Mama is a 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 momentarily vacated Scare house and wreaks the same havoc as her fairy tale counterpart (Baby's chair, made of delicate bones, is reduced to dust). Instead of exhibiting fury, the family that discovers her welcomes her with open arms: "HOW DARE YOU... eat without us!" a joyful Papa cries. "I've always wanted another mouth to feed." It's a horror spoof with a big heart: Lorenzo's acrylic and colored pencil cartooning offers a warm glow, and readers will cheer for this undead family that finally feels complete. Ages 4--8. (Aug.)
Horn Book Review
The three Scares (a Frankensteins monsterlike Papa, a mummy Mama, and a vampiric-looking Baby) take their pet Plasma for a walk while their soup cools in its cauldrons. Zombie Moldilocks sleepwalks into their haunted housewhere Papas stone slab is too hard, Mamas sarcophagus is too tight, but Babys chair made of bones is just right. Goldilocks fans should enjoy the Halloween twists on a familiar tale, and the rich-hued mixed-media illustrations make it clear that none of this is meant to be too scaryin fact, Moldilocks ends up happier than her folktale counterpart. This wittily weird book is JUST RIGHT for readers with a sense of humor. shoshana flax September/October 2019 p.52(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The traditional fairy tale gets a Halloween update and an adoption twist.Readers paying attention will notice the setup at the start of the tale: The haunted house the Scares live in is big enough for four but houses only three: Papa Scare (Frankenstein's monster), Mama Scare (a green-skinned mummy with Bride-of-Frankenstein hair), and Baby Scare (a tiny, redheaded, pale-skinned vampire tot). Papa's recipe makes four servings of Alpha-Bat Soup; Mama wishes for an assistant to help her in the lab; and Baby wants a playmate. On this night, the soup is too hot to eat, so the three take ghost-dog Plasma out for a walk. Meanwhile, Moldilocks, a green-skinned, black-haired zombie girl, is sleepwalking, her nose drawing her toward the smell of soupand home. The rest unspools as the familiar tale does, albeit with some interesting dcor in the house and a fly that may be Moldilocks' pet. The dark and spooky spread in which Moldilocks awakens to find the Scares' shadows looming over her ("How dare you") resolves on the next page with a warm welcome into the family: "eat without us!" "And they lived hauntingly ever after." Lorenzo's acrylic-and-colored-pencil illustrations feature rich and vivid colors; lots of bones, skulls, and spiderwebs make up most of the home's ambience.How this unusual family finds exactly what they were missing makes for a satisfying tale. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
