Bubbles with personality.
Top cat burglar Ophelia von Hairball V gets the most important assignment of her life in this sequel to Snazzy Cat Capers (2018).
A cat-astrophe is looming over the Furry Feline Burglary Institute, and they need their best agent to solve the puzzle of a lifetime. That would be Ophelia, a fluffy, white cat fond of manicures and old-fashioned heists. When Director MEW announces that all the resources of the FFBI will be at her disposal as she races to save the cat world from a threat from the Central Canine Intelligence Agency, her cousin, Pierre, who keeps his second-place standing through nefarious means, is out of his mind with envy. Once she realizes that a CCIA agent has moved in next door and is watching her every move, Ophelia has to outsmart and outmaneuver two enemies at once to win this race. She does so with an abundance of style and class. The mission’s emphasis on saving the cat world reduces the moral ambiguity of Ophelia’s burgling escapades (and she always returns her treasures—eventually). Kent’s prose is outlandishly sprinkled with animal puns, and Ophelia’s sidekick, Oscar the inventor (a goldfish), provides additional comic relief with his costumes and anxious personality. Ophelia’s confidence and competence will draw readers back to this series for more dangerous, lawless adventures. Full pages of humorous graphic panels and illustrations amusingly break up the text for young chapter-book readers.
Bubbles with personality. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-14347-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Magical animals become a kooky, sweet metaphor for growing up.
She’s just the adorablest, teeniest of stray kittens—suddenly grown as big as a hippopotamus.
Zoe’s not supposed to bring stray animals home anymore, ever since the skunk incident. Who can resist the world’s smallest kitten, though? And it’s Zoe’s 12th birthday, and she’s been unhappy at how tall she’s grown, and she’s been crushed over her older brother’s impending departure for college; eventually, her concerned parents cave. But after Pipsqueak’s been with Zoe for just a couple of days, she’s suddenly a full-grown cat. Then she’s the size of a dog, then a lion, and after less than a week, a hippo. If the government finds out about the enormous talking feline (for Pipsqueak can speak, now, and read as well), will they take her away to Area 51? Zoe and her best friend, Harrison, begin a quest: They’ll take Pipsqueak to Zoe’s wacky New Age aunt, who’ll maybe have a solution for them. Along the way their fellowship swells with magical animals, an offbeat crew composed of a six-tailed green dog and a multicolored flying mouse. The far-fetched setup and ensuing adventure convey themes that will resonate with the audience; Pipsqueak’s as unhappy with her out-of-control body and circumstances as Zoe, and the quest may lead them to new comfort with themselves. Zoe is depicted as white on the cover, and Harrison is of South Asian descent.
Magical animals become a kooky, sweet metaphor for growing up. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-06502-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
This oblique homage to a now-creaky classic is lit by friendships, heroic feats, and exceptional art.
A long-eared young hero takes on a witch bent on trapping rare legendary creatures in a magical book.
Not so much a pastiche of E. Nesbit’s short story “Book of Beasts” as an original novel with cribbed elements, this adventuresome outing regathers and expands the animal cast of DiTerlizzi’s 2008 reworking of The Reluctant Dragon (titled Kenny & the Dragon) for a fresh challenge. As if coping with a dozen baby sisters and tending the bookshop of his questing mentor, Sir George E. Badger, aren’t hard enough, Kenny Rabbit feels abandoned by his best friend, dessert-loving dragon Grahame—who happily recognizes the supposedly mythical manticore that springs from the pages of a grimoire as an acquaintance from olden days. Avid to collect magical creatures of all sorts, the book’s owner, sinister opossum Eldritch Nesbit, tempts Kenny into an ill-considered bargain. But once he sees not only the manticore, but Grahame too snapped up, Kenny joins allies, notably his redoubtable crush Charlotte the squirrel, in a rumbustious rescue that also frees a host of unicorns and other long-vanished marvels. Aside from the odd griffin or al-mi’raj (a horned rabbit from Persian lore and an outlier in an otherwise Eurocentric cast), everyone in the lively, accomplished illustrations, from Kenny’s impossibly adorable sibs on, sports amusingly anthropomorphic dress and body language.
This oblique homage to a now-creaky classic is lit by friendships, heroic feats, and exceptional art. (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4169-8316-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
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