Even a brush with death (or a bad tooth) can’t reform this Bad Kitty. Good thing. We’d miss her! (Graphic/nonfiction hybrid....
Bad Kitty isn’t eating? It must be a sign of the apocalypse…or worse.
Bad Kitty once ate a meatloaf the size of a car in 5 minutes, so if she’s not eating, something must be horribly wrong. It’s time for a visit to the vet—wait, where’d Bad Kitty go? First task: find the kitty. Then don the riot gear to get her into her cat carrier. When the vet (who knows just how to handle her) knocks Bad Kitty out with a shot, she visits the (kitty) Pearly Gates, where the feline St. Peter tells her she tormented Puppy too much to pass through. She’s given one day to do something nice for Puppy, or she will be sent to Puppydog Paradise (which is far from idyllic for cats). Can Bad Kitty rescue her afterlife with a kind act for her drooling nemesis? Is it all just a dream? After the homage to Looney Tunes that was Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble (2014), Bruel gives an appreciative nod to Tom and Jerry; it’s a lagniappe that Bad Kitty’s mobs of young fans may not notice, though their adults will probably get a few chuckles. Kids will just enjoy Uncle Murray’s fun facts (all about cat health and visits to the vet this time, of course) and Bad Kitty’s ornery behavior; both are as entertaining as ever.
Even a brush with death (or a bad tooth) can’t reform this Bad Kitty. Good thing. We’d miss her! (Graphic/nonfiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59643-977-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
This is rather a silly story, and I don't believe children will think it particularly funny. A paper hanger and painter finds time on his hands in winter, and spends it in reading of arctic exploration. It is all given reality when he receives a present of a penguin, which makes its nest in the refrigerator on cubes of ice, mates with a lonely penguin from the zoo, and produces a family of penguins which help set the Poppers on their feet.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1938
ISBN: 978-0-316-05843-8
Page Count: 139
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1938
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