Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books

A boy learns to love reading—with help from a most unusual bookseller.
Henry isn’t a book lover. But when he helpfully returns a dropped key to Griselda Snook in time for her bookstore’s opening, she invites him in. She puts out a plate of doughnuts, but the plate quickly runs off. Henry chases it to the cookbook section, where he bumps into a Frankenstein’s monster in search of a joke book. Griselda makes a suggestion, which Henry tracks down. Together, the two find “exciting,” “noisy,” and “spook-tacularly silly” offerings for a bevy of ghoulish customers, among them a werewolf, a mummy, ghosts, and a skeleton. But Henry still hasn’t found a book for himself. When a volume falls off the shelf and unleashes a dragon, Henry searches for a spell to tame it—to no avail. A witch named Magenta Screech arrives to put things right, tells the bookstore patrons a series of scary stories, and finally hands Henry the perfect tale. The story is slight—and it’s never made clear just what makes Magenta’s suggestion the ideal offering—but the spooky setting is bewitching, and the sentiments are unimpeachable. Wiry linework and a matte black-and-orange color scheme make the Halloween theme clear, while the assorted monsters are clearly delighted to be here; details will tempt viewers to linger in this bookstore. Henry and Griselda are brown-skinned, while Magenta is pale-skinned; human characters are diverse.
A sweetly spooky tribute to reading and bookshops. (Picture book. 4-8)–Kirkus Reviews


When Henry finds a key on the sidewalk and gives it to its owner, he follows her into a huge bookstore. Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books, which features a vast array of Halloween-themed books and caters especially to Halloween characters, has books for every interest. Despite the variety in choices, Henry isn’t convinced that he’ll find anything for himself. Could a guest reader at the store, Magenta Screech, have the perfect book for Henry?
Critique: “Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books” by the collaborative team of author/storyteller Barry Timms and artist/illustrator Laura Borio is a welcome and especially recommended pick for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community/public library picture book collections in celebration of Halloween, bookstores, and books for children ages 3-7. It should be noted for personal reading lists that “Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books” is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).–Midwest Book Review