A purrfect caper for a not-too-criminal kitty
A real cat burglar—literally—stars in this British import.
A mysterious job offer takes Atticus, a brown tabby cat with a talent for theft, to an English seaside town. There, he learns that some crafty magpies want to hire him to steal all the town’s jewelry. Magpies being notoriously deceitful, Atticus is suspicious, but the promise of sardines as payment wins him over. In Littleton-on-Sea, not a notably diverse town, he finds a home with the family of a police detective, the Cheddars, and gets to burgling. The more he steals, the more the family’s dad gets to work, so Atticus thinks he’s doing the Cheddars a favor. However, when Inspector Cheddar gets in trouble because he can’t solve the recent crime wave, Atticus decides to turn the tables on the magpies. Meanwhile the Cheddar children begin to notice some interesting things about Atticus. Can they convince their dad when they tell him who's behind the burglaries? And can they do it before the magpies raid the local fair? Gray endows Atticus with such a confident personality that readers will be sure he’ll solve everything, but she includes some nice suspense later in the story when things go drastically wrong. Kids who like a bit of light crime fiction will certainly enjoy it, but readers who love animals, especially cats, will be purring throughout.
A purrfect caper for a not-too-criminal kitty . (Fantasy/mystery. 7-9)Pub Date: July 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-571-28449-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Engaging characters and action will leave readers longing to sail onward.
A kitten’s exciting early-19th-century adventures, presented in five fast-paced chapters.
Trim, a lively, scrawny dark-gray kitten with big eyes, white feet, and a star over his chest, longs to see the world. Chasing a bee, he tumbles onto a friendly pooch, Penny, and decides he wants to be a ship’s dog, just like her. Penny states the obvious. But light-skinned Captain Flinders needs a ship’s cat, so Trim climbs his epauletted shoulder and is rowed out to the three-masted ship. There, the kitten is dive-bombed by an antagonistic parrot named Jack, who nevertheless teaches him the proper terms for his new home: bow, stern, starboard, port. Trim races easily up the mast to sit in the crow’s nest with the boyish brown-skinned ship’s artist, Will. But coming down proves difficult, until Trim does his best and succeeds. And he even finds a way to prove himself to Jack—and earn Jack’s friendship. Accurately depicting the sloop, the watercolorlike illustrations provide just enough historical detail, including the ship’s food and Flinders’ Napoleonic hat, breeches, buckled pumps, and stockings. The animals are realistic (though Jack gets a bit anthropomorphized). Most vocabulary is simple, with a couple of challenges. Tracking Trim’s exploits, readers are never bored. Backmatter explains that Trim is based on a real-life cat, born in 1799 and owned by British explorer Matthew Flinders.
Engaging characters and action will leave readers longing to sail onward. (Historical chapter book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781682632901
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Kids will appreciate the absorbing plot and the feeling of knowing more than the protagonist.
Ambitious, conscientious, adventurous, and willing to learn, Trim is an admirable hero.
The first title in this series, Trim Sets Sail (2023), explained how the scrawny kitten became part of Captain Flinders’ crew. (The actual Trim made history as the first feline to circumnavigate Australia, 1801-1803.) On board Trim’s ship are the captain and the sailors; the ship’s cook, gardener, artist, and naturalist; the ship’s dog, Penny; and the parrot, Jack. Trim wants to be a useful crew member, too, so Jack sends him off to look for rats in the ship’s hold, but the kitten doesn’t know what a rat looks like. When he encounters a regal-looking rodent who announces herself as Princess Bea, he’s discouraged to learn that patrolling is already her job, but he’s happy to help out by bringing her a biscuit. Just as Jack is about to set Trim straight, we spot the scorpion who’d earlier escaped from the naturalist and appears ready to attack Penny. Trim, encouraged by Bea and mistaking the arachnid for a rat, fearlessly charges. While rats may not be so welcome aboard a real ship, Penny, Jack, and Trim make peace with Bea and find a place for her on the ship. Color-and-line illustrations are as lively and engaging as the narrative, which boasts enjoyable action and suspense.
Kids will appreciate the absorbing plot and the feeling of knowing more than the protagonist. (historical afterword) (Historical chapter book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781682632918
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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