The didactic plot is further hampered by exposition and too many characters to keep straight.
A misunderstanding at Animal Inn leads to anxiety.
The Tyler family (Mom, Dad, Jake, Ethan, and Cassie—who all lack racial markers in the text but have light skin in the black-and-white illustrations) once lived in a city apartment but now live out in the country. There they run Animal Inn (a combined pet hotel, school, and spa that offers further animal services, such as puppy birthday parties and reading activities) with their family pets as permanent residents (narrator Leopold the macaw, terrier Dash, chocolate Lab Coco, cats Shadow and Whiskers, and gerbils Fuzzy and Furry). As the story opens, the animals first hear that a wizard is coming but find greater terror in the clarification that the wizard won’t be the guest—the wizard’s dragon will be. The animals’ anxiety levels increase as they deal with the preparations of the inn for the new guest, even though at the halfway point one of the many guests (a miniature poodle, very French) relates an anecdote about unnecessary fear in the face of misinformation and misunderstandings. Finally, the dragon is revealed to be a rescued Komodo dragon and “wizard” the result of young Cassie’s difficulties pronouncing the word “lizard,” and soon all are friends. Here’s hoping the next books will go lighter on the exposition, characters, and heavy-handedness.
The didactic plot is further hampered by exposition and too many characters to keep straight. (preview of next book) (Fiction/animal fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6224-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
Vast libraries of humorous animal fantasies available both locally and from across the pond make this an easy title to...
Fuzzy and Coco, two very different guinea pigs, are very good friends.
Fuzzy and Coco live in London with Ben and Henrietta Bliss, an animal-rescue worker and a veterinarian, respectively. Fuzzy loves to cook (though he’s bad at it), and Coco loves to talk about her relationship with the queen (no one believes her, but her origins are murky). When Fuzzy’s celebrity-chef idol, Scarlet Cleaver, opens a new restaurant nearby and advertises for guinea pigs, Fuzzy scampers out the cat flap despite Coco’s warnings. Coco turns to the Internet to find the restaurant. What she and new friend Eduardo find is terrifying-ish. Can they save Fuzzy? And does Coco really know the queen? Gray and Swift’s occasionally smile-inducing series debut may disturb its target audience stateside, who likely do not know guinea pigs are eaten elsewhere in the world. Several events played for laughs (an encounter with a fox posing as a guinea pig online, serving the queen a live guinea pig because there’s no time to cook it) are unfunny head-scratchers. Horne’s black-and-white illustrations are delightfully goofy if occasionally misplaced, but they and an associated website listing with some activities, recipes and Internet safety tips just don’t make this worthwhile.
Vast libraries of humorous animal fantasies available both locally and from across the pond make this an easy title to ignore. (Humor. 7-10)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62365-037-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Mobius
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Surprisingly (and sneakily) instructional, totally hilarious…and worth every penny.
Bad Kitty takes on her greatest foe: Sillier than Puppy, mightier than Uncle Murray, scarier than a bath…it’s her creator!
For her seventh chapter-book outing (and her 10th appearance overall), Bad Kitty ups the meta-hybrid ante by telling a story that includes her author/illustrator while it also teaches its audience some fundamentals about the writer’s craft. At the outset, Bruel introduces himself and invites readers to smell the paper (or download a paper-smelling app if they are reading electronically) and then draws a mirror so that readers can see how handsome he is. He teaches them to draw Bad Kitty, leaving white space so that they can follow along (unless they are reading a library book, but it’s OK to draw on the screen). What follows is the nuttiest writing guide ever. Bruel uses Bad Kitty (who’s obviously reluctant to play along) to explain the concepts of character, plot, theme and conflict. Uncle Murray helps out with a few definitions. Poor Puppy and giant octopuses (or is that octopi…?) pop in as antagonists. When Strange Kitty (Bad Kitty’s fellow feline) points out similarities between this and the Looney Tunes cartoons Rabbit Rampage and Duck Amuck, Bruel admits they inspired him and hopes Bad Kitty will inspire the audience to write their own stories.
Surprisingly (and sneakily) instructional, totally hilarious…and worth every penny. (glossary, recipe) (Graphic/nonfiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59643-671-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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