Review by Oishi Bhattacharya
Simon and Schuster, April 2023
40 pages, Hardcover, $22.99 CAD. 9781665907552.
Ages 4-8, Grades 2-3
Fiction
“Something snarfed my snapper!”
“Something pinched my pail of prawns!”
“Something swiped my woolly sweater!”
This something sounded serious. “We have a monster lurking in Lighthouse Bay!” cried Gilly’s brother, Gus. Gilly flip-flapped to the beach – no monster was going to scare her!
Gilly loves her flippers. Her best friend is a fish named Finnegan, and together they flap their flippers in Lighthouse Bay. However, when rumours of a monster snarfing, swiping, and pinching start to swirl around, Gilly decides that she will catch the monster and restore peace to the little town.
Gilly’s bravery and kindness are what carry this picture book. After hearing the rumours, she goes to the dock, and the monster snatches her flipper. So, with the help of her family and friends, she devises a trap that is sure to catch the monster who is causing a ruckus.
Although the story doesn’t go too far beyond what is specified in the blurb of the book, there are delightful little twists that will keep young readers entertained. The prose is written for the ear which makes it great fun for young audiences who are being read-aloud to, and Marko’s sense of humour pops off the page. For instance, when Gilly uses dead fish as bait in her trap to catch the monster, she tells her pet fish, “Don’t worry, Finnegan, they weren’t anyone you knew.”
Marko’s work with graphic novels is evident throughout the book. The illustrations pay homage to the graphic novel style by transcending the boundaries of panels and encouraging the eye to wander across the page. The watercolour images radiate a sense of warmth and tenderness, immersing the reader in Gilly’s world. A couple of the full-spread illustrations are particularly wonderful and almost reminiscent of the search-and-find book series, Where’s Waldo?, where the reader can make a game of looking for the different characters in the story. Additionally, the way the dialogue is arranged on the page makes the words look like they are encased within invisible speech bubbles. Marko also uses sound effects, playing around with the size and colour of fonts to make the words on the page visually arresting for the reader.
At the end of the book, Marko provides a couple pages of fun facts and websites that are interactive and informational, creating a link between the fictional world and the real world. Gilly’s spritely personality, Marko’s use of rhymes and rhythms, and the illustrations work together to create a story that engages readers on different sensory levels. Gilly’s courage and kindness are infectious, encouraging the reader to be more forgiving and accepting of others—including monsters!
Oishi Bhattacharya graduated from UBC with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing and is returning for a Master of Arts in English Literature in the fall. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, taking pictures, and watching sports and films.
YOUNG ADULTING 