Seen and Not Heard by Katie May Green

Green, Katie May. Seen and Not Heard, PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick Press, 2014. $15.99. Content: G. The children of Shiverhawk Hall stay in their picture frames all day, but when nighttime comes and the rest of the house is asleep, they sneak out of their pictures and head to the kitchen to eat. They make messes and are loud. They paint the walls with their artwork. When the sun starts to rise they must make it back to the picture frames. I really wanted to like this book. The pictures are a great style, it seemed like it would be a little quirky... but the pointlessness of it just gets to me. It was never really clear why they had to get back to the frames or why they could even get out in the first place. Why did they just want to eat and make a mess? It seemed like the children might be creepy or the book would be a little spooky, but mostly the kids were just slightly naughty. I’m totally ok with some unanswered questions, but this just seemed pointless. Did I said “pointless” already? That’s because it really is the best way I can describe it. EL (K-3)- OPTIONAL. Reviewed by Shay, School Librarian.