An engaging mouse adventure with a solid moral.
A scared mouse finds a creative way to deal with a dangerous cat in this picture book.
Bespectacled mouse Teaky Squeaker is so frightened that she doesn’t want to leave her house. She’s also allergic to cheese. While many of her fears are imaginary, the big, red feline Ketchup poses a real threat. Determined to catch the mouse, Ketchup tries everything—and Teaky realizes she must do something about the cat. Although it means going outdoors, Teaky leads Ketchup to a place where felines are happy, and discovers there is much more of the world to see. Back in her domain, she copes with a wrecked house from Ketchup’s attacks. But “as she built her home anew, Teaky saw how much she grew.” Pasternak relates Teaky’s story in simple, rhyming phrases, offering a few challenging vocabulary words (stalked, scheme) for emergent readers. Many readers will note that the world is filled with perils and Teaky’s fears are well founded, but her ability to overcome them through cunning and determination should inspire youngsters. Silvani’s soft-edged cartoon illustrations show mice and cats of several different colors and clever, mouse-inspired cars. Ketchup is suitably scary in the Big Bad Wolf role, and Teaky’s grand plan, featuring a map filled with cheese-inspired names and the feline haven “Meowtopia,” is well drawn to convey the action of her escapade. Mouse versions of real landmarks that appear on Teaky’s journey add a humorous touch to the enjoyable tale.
An engaging mouse adventure with a solid moral.Pub Date: April 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73725-951-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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