KIRKUS REVIEW
Crash is a feline wrecking crew!
Krissie and Kait love their puffy kitty, Crash. They named him Crash because he runs in to everything! Kate’s drum set? CRASH! Krissie’s doll? CRASH! Mom’s birthday cake? CRASH! Dad’s can of paint? CRASH! When he smashes through the girls’ farmland play set, they are finally worried enough to take him to the veterinarian. Maybe he is sick or in need of some glasses. The vet gives him a clean bill of health…but as soon as Crash is home, he plows through a load of clean laundry that has to be washed again. However, the girls love him, and he tolerates their dressing him up and dragging him about the house. Late one night he’s not in his bed, and a crash draws the entire family downstairs. Crash is chasing a mouse around the kitchen, cornering it in a boot. Crash has redeemed himself in the eyes of his humans. In this kitty-cat version of McPhail’s own Bad Dog (2014), the prolific creator bases the tale on his granddaughters and their cat. As a tale of childhood devotion to a pet it works well, but McPhail’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations are not up to his usual standards. Pudgy, fluffy Crash often looks more canine than feline, and Crash’s redemption is too facile. Crash’s family is white, and the vet is black.
A sadly run-of-the-mill effort from such a name as McPhail. (Picture book. 2-7)
