La mansión misteriosa.  (The Mysterious Mansion)

Reviewed by Ann Welton, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA -- Críticas, 9/15/2008

Gil, Carmen. 
illus. by Riki Blanco. Spain/Mexico: Combel, distr. by IPG. 2008. unpaged. ISBN 978-8-498-25261-3. $15.95.

Gr 1-3–The “mysterious mansion” of the title—a tall, purple house that certainly looks spooky—is home to an impressive number of monsters. Aurelio II is a headless ghost. Then there’s Anton the vampire; his lovely consort Frida; Vera, the witch (who cooks madly, and not just the usual eye-of-newt-and-toe-of-frog sort of potion, but pizza, as well); and Anacleto, the dragon. Akenenda is a mummy who hates the desert and loves rain, and Marcelo is a werewolf. As it turns out, all of these terrifying creatures live in a dollhouse that belongs to a little girl named Clarisa, a revelation that effectively neutralizes any potentially frightening aspects of this tale, and provides it with a wonderful twist at the end. Although a bit clunky at times, the rhyming text adequately develops the story’s narrative and helps with characterization. Photographed mixed media illustrations use sponges, bread, fabric, paperclips, and cut paper to add visual interest. The lighting of the photographs makes effective use of shadows and a soft focus to provide a sense of depth and mystery. The palette varies from monster to monster, but even in the sunnier compositions, such as the mummy’s desert scenes, the overall values remain dark, helping to maintain a spooky mood throughout. A sound additional title for library collections in need of scary Spanish-language materials for the younger set. [Don’t miss our Halloween Roundup.—Ed.].

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