PRINCESS PENELOPE AND THE RUNAWAY KITTEN

In this amusing if slight tale, a runaway kitten leads Princess Penelope on a merry chase through the palace, leaving chaos in his wake.

Princess Penelope wants to play with the mischievous kitten with wool wrapped around his tummy, but the frisky pet takes off. The princess must search for him; luckily, he has left a trail of yarn behind him. In a gimmicky but brilliant (literally) hook, the string appears in glitter-glue pink. Rhyming lines, some forced, describe the princess’s hunt for the kitten. The narrative, much like the kitten, sometimes takes unexpected jumps, but tots following the line of yarn will find the visual clues they need to fill in the lapses. Detail-oriented children will notice that other creatures join the chase: the dog, birds and a rabbit freed from their cages by the kitten when he passed, a peacock and squirrel from the garden, the duck from the stable. The topsy-turvy commotion the kitten causes in each location is sure to provoke some giggles. All the action is captured in digital art with a retro, block-print look featuring bold shapes and matte pastel colors, with a special emphasis on pink. In the end, the unaware, worn-out, too-cute kitten is found innocently cuddling with his mother.

Not quite a seamless romp, but certain youngsters will be drawn to the glitter like iron filings to a magnet.