No more nighttime expeditions for Mr. Clutterbuck—unless there’s a power failure, of course.
A sleepwalking goat dispels crises, wreaks gooey havoc, and solves a mysterious rash of disappearing spoons in this Finnish import.
With his frantic guinea pig, Gus, scurrying along to flag down street traffic, Mr. Clutterbuck (“Herra Hakkarainen” in the original Finnish) drifts out in his nightshirt for inadvertent adventure. He brings rival biker gangs together, saves Wally Wurst’s sausage factory, causes a major mustard spill in the railyard, inspires a rock band with impromptu lyrics—“SQUICK-SQUELCH MUDDY BUTT! BRATTY POOPY POO!” (“Rude and crude and just what we need!” squeals manager Ramp Fibian)—and pulls off other exploits, all unawares. Finally, the morning after he helps nab feathered felon Picklock Pete and recover a huge stash of stolen spoons, the grateful town presents the confused caprine with a gift that leaves the exhausted Gus, at least, delighted: a treadmill. An all-animal cast prone (except for Mr. Clutterbuck) to comical overreactions crowds cartoon illustrations that are properly replete with silly details and side business. There’s more text than in a typical picture book, and the already-busy design can seem overwhelming, but silly names and situations should keep older listeners hooked.
No more nighttime expeditions for Mr. Clutterbuck—unless there’s a power failure, of course. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-914671-76-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Elsewhere Editions
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag.
Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.
Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Young readers will clamor to ride along.
Like an ocean-going “Lion and the Mouse,” a humpback whale and a snail “with an itchy foot” help each other out in this cheery travelogue.
Responding to a plaintive “Ride wanted around the world,” scrawled in slime on a coastal rock, whale picks up snail, then sails off to visit waters tropical and polar, stormy and serene before inadvertently beaching himself. Off hustles the snail, to spur a nearby community to action with another slimy message: “SAVE THE WHALE.” Donaldson’s rhyme, though not cumulative, sounds like “The house that Jack built”—“This is the tide coming into the bay, / And these are the villagers shouting, ‘HOORAY!’ / As the whale and the snail travel safely away. . . .” Looking in turn hopeful, delighted, anxious, awed, and determined, Scheffler’s snail, though tiny next to her gargantuan companion, steals the show in each picturesque seascape—and upon returning home, provides so enticing an account of her adventures that her fellow mollusks all climb on board the whale’s tail for a repeat voyage.
Young readers will clamor to ride along. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8037-2922-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
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