The Scary Places Map Book: Seven Terrifying Tours

Gr 1–3—A follow-up to The Once Upon a Time Map Book (Candlewick, 2004), Hennessy's activity book forgoes narrative for a lackluster collection of "terrifying tours" of mythical, historical, and folk-tale-based lands full of ostensibly frightening objects and creatures. A brief introduction to such sites as "A Trip Through Translvania" or "The Ghostly Galleon Cruise of the Seven Seas" precedes each digitally created map, with allusions to the literary references that inform each landscape-calling out, but not explaining, common items associated with each mythology. A lengthy list of directions instructs readers to follow the path through the terrain, but map coordinates and site labels marking each destination clutter the page and render careful measurement on the map pointless; additionally, following the meandering paths dictated in the tepid text fails to yield any particularly rewarding destination for readers. While some students may benefit from practice using a map, a backward compass rose on one sole spread and a misleading introduction on another page will frustrate users who may be just mastering these skills. The narrative-less introductions and uninspired digital illustrations provide glimpses at the intriguing backstories for each theoretically creepy landscape, but ultimately the book offers scant thrills and absolutely no scares.—Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY