Ghouldilocks and the Three Ghosts

Sullivan gives the classic fairy tale a ghoulish twist in this punning variation. In the middle of a game of “hide-and-shriek,” Ghouldilocks, depicted with chartreuse skin and Medusa-like “ghastly hair,” follows a series of eerie sounds to an abandoned house in which a familiar chain of events unfolds. Wordplay provides the well-trod tale with a seasonal punch: the first chair Ghouldilocks sits in feels like a “tombstone” and the next is like “quicksand”; one bowl of ghoulash is “hotter than a werewolf’s breath on a summer day,” and another is “colder than a vampire’s skin on a winter morning.” Throughout, frenetic-feeling, queasy-hued digital artwork by Becker provides visual momentum via scenes of the subject wreaking havoc. When the returning spirit family finds the slumbering interloper, the discovery results in a collective fright before humor defuses the situation, propelling the story toward a conclusion that emphasizes that there’s nothing frightening about friendship. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)