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
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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