Unsettling Salad!

Gr 1-4–Grades 2-5 This second installment of “Jasper Rabbit’s Creepy Tales” chapter books series by author Reynolds and illustrator Brown brings young readers more laughter and chills. Many kids will relate to Oliver Possum and Thadeus Badger, two fourth graders who love junk food and balk at Oliver’s parents’ healthy preferences. When Oliver’s parents trick the boys into eating salad for dinner, a surprising chain of events begins to take place. The plot unfolds as a mystery to solve with many clues in both the illustrations and text: a face on a head of broccoli, a full moon, a green tinge to Oliver’s complexion. Brown won the Caldecott honor medal for Creepy Carrots! and the illustrations in Unsettling Salad! continue to reach that high caliber. While the black, white, and green illustrations are ominous, they are humorous as well and not too frightening. There are also modern touches to the imagery such as laptops and cell phones. Unlike the picture books in the series, there are only illustrations every few pages.