It’s twee, but it will have its audience.
Cuddly animals everywhere are lucky to have Dr. KittyCat on call.
Dr. KittyCat and her faithful mouse nurse, Peanut, take care of a menagerie of little creatures and keep excellent notes in their Furry First-aid Book. Clover the bunny has scraped his ear on a bramble. Dr. KittyCat cleans it, bandages it, and gives him a sticker. And so it goes. After a busy day of healing bumps and scrapes, Dr. KittyCat wants to unwind by knitting, but her ball of yarn is missing. Before they can find it, an emergency call comes in. Posy the puppy has gotten stuck in a play tunnel while practicing for Paws and Prizes Field Day. Into the vanbulance! Can they free her and find out how it happened? Could it involve Dr. KittyCat’s ball of yarn? Posy was at her office earlier….Clarke’s first in a new series for those just starting chapter books is high on the sweetness scale. Plentiful illustrations mix black-and-white animal photographs with crayon-style line drawings in purple; unnecessary (and somewhat disturbing) mouths have been drawn on the animals’ faces. The book may be useful in helping those afraid of visiting the doctor (it may also prompt questions as to why the cat is not eating the mouse). Clover the Bunny publishes simultaneously.
It’s twee, but it will have its audience. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: March 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-87333-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Charming.
An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.
Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.
Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781665942485
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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