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    The Yark
    Unavailable
    The Yark
    Unavailable
    The Yark
    Ebook73 pages1 hour

    The Yark

    By Bertrand Santini and Laurent Gapaillard

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A very funny and cheerfully subversive chapter book about a monster who eats children—until one day he makes a friend.

    The Yark loves children . . . with the love of a gourmand! This hairy monster dreams of child buffets—ham of boy, orphan gratin, breaded babies, girl rillettes.

    But he has a problem: his delicate stomach can only tolerate nice children; liars give him heartburn and savages spoil his teeth. There are not nearly enough good, edible children around to keep him from starvation.

    Then the Yark finds sweet Madeleine. Will he gobble her up? Or will she survive long enough to change his life?

    "[A] blend of horror and humor. . ."—Booklist Online

    "Gapaillard's beautiful drawings set the emotive, toothy Yark into moody, cinematic landscapes and intricate interiors."—Kirkus Reviews

    "...unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as elementary school and community library fiction collections for young readers." Midwest Book Review

    "There is much to love in this cautionary tale...Suggest for one-on-one sharing where parents are looking for a gentle and humorous moral tale."—School Library Journal

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLerner Publishing
    Release dateJan 1, 2018
    ISBN9781776571734
    Unavailable
    The Yark
    Author

    Bertrand Santini

    Bertrand Santini is scriptwriter and author of a number of popular children's books. He lives in Paris, France.

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    Reviews for The Yark

    4/5

    28 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The Yark is a creature that eats good little children because they are the best for his digestion. Until he meets a little girl that’s just too sweet to eat. The story is fun — although I’m not sure my niece (who is six) is ready to read it yet, since the beginning chapters (which talk about the monster eating children’s toes, fingers, hearts, etc.) might be a little too scary for her just yet. I don’t want to be one of those adults to assume something is too scary for kids when the kids think it’s fine, since it really depends on the kid. But I know my niece and although she likes creepy stuff (Coraline, The Corpse Bride, etc.), there are some things that cross that line into scaring her (The Witches). So, I’m going to hold off on this one for a little bit. However, some other six year old might totally love this book and not be bothered by it at all.
    • 4/5
      The Yark fits neatly into the tradition of stories where a monstrous character is shown not to be so monstrous after all, especially when confronted with the transformative power of love. What sets it apart from other stories of the same type is the language.The language is evocative. It is descriptive. It is, upon occasion, brutal. It is crude and funny and engaging and vivid. Parents may want to read this book themselves before giving it to their child, especially if the child is sensitive to frank descriptions of children being eaten. (Think eyeballs squishing, bones crunching, that kind of thing.) On the other hand, a child mature enough to understand the nature of satire may find the descriptions hilarious. One particular scene, featuring a good deal of bathroom humor, seems primed to appeal to the middle school-aged boy in all of us.I cannot recommend the book to everyone, but I think it has the potential to be a favorite for a specific subsection of children.
    • 4/5
      York is a monster who loves children. That is he loves to eat children. But Yark has one weakness, he has a very sensitive stomach and can only eat good children. Eating bad children (the bullies and brats of this world) leaves Yark with a bad stomachache. The problem these days is there are very few good children left. This chapter book takes us on Yark's journey to find that perfect tasty good child. I would say this is a book not for the squeamish child or one who may be easily frightened. The story is fun but at times scary, the illustration are beautiful, but could cause nightmaree (for the sensitive child). For the child who enjoys the Roald Dahl or Edward Gorey this book would be a fun read with a sweet ending. 4 our of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      You have to understand that classic fairy tales are dark and grim and children often got hurt in them, because they were a way to teach children about the world. This is very much in the same style as classic fairy tales of Europe, the Yark must eat the good children to live and bad children make him sick, but he comes across Madeline, who lives alone and does not want to live alone anymore and she helps the Yark become a better person.
    • 4/5
      I won this from the LibraryThing's Early Reviewer giveaway. I had trouble with this one--I couldn't initially place the audience. I thought it was for children, but the explicit description of eating a child piece by piece at the start even had /my/ skin crawling. The Yark is a Monster (as is Humanity, though his kind is only rarer) that feeds on good children--bad children give him colossal indigestion. The premise is bleak, in that the Yark is just having awful luck finding good children to eat anymore, and is likely to starve to death soon. There's a lot of insistence that children in the good old days were much better behaved (and that they were even more hygienic??), and any old Yark could feast at their will.It has lots of dark humor, like the assessment of the scent of the world's most wonderful girl, Madeline: "Violet and anise are the heart notes that reveal and underlying melancholy. . . a blend of blood orange and milk sugar, top notes that emanate only from the purest souls." There's a dream sequence smorgasbord I liked, as the Yark lies hungry: "boys in bacon, orphan gratin, chicken-fried children, breaded babies, leg of twins, brats in a bun, pate of little girl, stuffed schoolchildren, tandooried toddlers, choirboys in bundt cake..."Overall I could see this working for a certain kind of middle grade (probably no younger)--the lover of grotesques, of random and dark humor. I was a big fan of Jhonen Vasquez in my preteen years, and I can imagine The Yark would appeal in a similar way--especially the greatly detailed illustrations (the Yark occasionally has tiny skulls matted in his fur!).
    • 5/5
      This is a fresh telling of the timeless theme that love has the power to transform us. At first I wasn't sure where the book was going, but it ended up incredibly sweet. Both adults and kids who like scary stories will appreciate it. Plus, the artwork is incredible.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book, although I REALLY don't think it's for children. The graphic description of eating kids as well as indigestion would put it out of the league of children's books for me. Maybe 10 or 12, and then it's maybe too simplistic in reading skills?Having said that, though, I thought it was pretty funny and clever. Stealing the Naughty and Nice list from Santa was a neat idea, and the first kid knowing all about the Yark was a hoot. And you can't help but like the Yark and his dark journey towards redemption.
    • 5/5
      received as a giveaway from LibraryThingI have no idea who this book is aimed at. The descriptions of child eating are... quite detailed, moreso than most kids are gonna handle well. The moralizing at the end is also a bit much; it feels like anyone who is going to like the first part is unlikely to like the second. I didn't like the second part very much, but the illustrations are SO GOOD, and the character of the Yark himself is SO GOOD, that I'm willing to forgive that moralizing. This is a lovely little book.
    • 1/5
      I didnt like it.It was very disparaging of children and I found that repellent.I did like the illustrations. They are well done and add quite a bit to the book.Makes me kind of wish that books targeted at adults included illustrations more often.
    • 5/5
      The Yark by Bertrand Santini is about a monster called, well, the Yark, who lives off eating children. He needs good little boys and girls though. Eating bullies and scoundrels gives the Yark a right terrible tummyache. But over the years, decades, and centuries, there are fewer and fewer good children to be found. What's a monster to do? Steal Santa’s list, that's what! Whatever could possibly go wrong? List in hand, the Yark travels the world looking for delectable children to gobble. Unfortunately for him, potential victim one sees his presence as an excuse to be bad. Potential victim two turns out to not be so delicious after all, and gives the Yark flying axe handles. He ends up crashing into an abandoned lighthouse, where a young orphan has made her home. Through the love she shows him, the Yark learns about humanity, and in doing so, about himself.Full of gorgeous pencil and ink sketches, this tale was a brilliant commentary on how children pick up patterns of behaviour from parents. More importantly, it shows how it is possible to change one’s own behaviour by changing one’s thinking, and thus overcome upbringing or base instinct. Geared towards middle-grade readers, this is an invaluable lesson. We do not have to be what nature (or nurture) made us. I read this with my cubs, and we all enjoyed it. It really reminded me Stephen Cosgrove's Serendipity stories, though longer and darker. Certainly, the lessons were consistent!***Many thanks to Netgalley and Myrick Marketing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.