This saccharine, exclamation-filled story is purr-fect for young cat fans but not many others.
The first in a new chapter book series introduces a girl who can turn into a cat.
Koemi “Kitty” Kimura loves cats more than anything (hence her nickname), but she’s allergic to them. When the Japanese-American girl’s white best friend, Jenny, invites Kitty to see her new pale gray kitten, Misty, Kitty’s Japanese-born grandmother allows her to go as long as she wears a family heirloom: a small charm imprinted with a picture of a cat. Fleetingly, Kitty wonders how a pendant can stop her from sneezing but quickly puts the thought aside for a sleepover at Jenny’s. Later, Kitty has an uncontrollable sneezing fit that turns her into a cat. Fortunately, Misty is there to welcome Kitty to the world of cats. On their first midnight adventure, they run into two bullies: a pair of twin Persians named Fang and Claws. Kitty and Misty report the troublemakers to the local Cat Council, the keepers of feline order. At her first council meeting, Kitty discovers she’s the latest in an ancient matrilineal line of Cat Guardians, humans who can turn into cats, and her first task is to stop the bullies. Kitty’s immediate family consists of her grandmother and her parents, who own a Japanese imports shop. The artwork, reminiscent of Mary Blair’s, features rosy, cozy images of romping kittens, an apt complement to the self-consciously breathless text.
This saccharine, exclamation-filled story is purr-fect for young cat fans but not many others. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-607-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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