Entertaining for fans of cats, adventures, and wordplay.
Following 2019’s The Fast and the Furriest, top cat burglar Ophelia von Hairball V vies against her cheating cousin, Pierre, to keep her spot at the top of the Furry Feline Burglary Institute.
Ophelia likes to complete her missions using classic methods, but sometimes she has to accept help from her fish/inventor underling, Oscar F. Gold. The first three chapters show Ophelia stealing a secret cake recipe from a castle in order to make the best birthday cake ever for her boss. After Director MEW’s birthday, a competition is announced: The top spot will go to the cat who steals the most valuable treasure—and teamwork is required. Oscar is delighted to be fully included at last. Ophelia adjusts to working with a partner, confuses and defeats her canine foes, faces her fear of water, exposes her cousin’s shenanigans, and, after a close call, wins the competition to keep her top spot. The story feels unwieldy at times with its many plot threads, but Kent manages to tie everything together by the end. Half-page cartoonlike illustrations with speech bubbles break up the text, and full-page panels of comic strips are integral to the story. Ophelia, a strong, smart female character, here provides readers with another fun contribution to chapter-book series shelves.
Entertaining for fans of cats, adventures, and wordplay. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-14349-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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