by Pip Jones ; illustrated by Ella Okstad ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2017
Readers will wish that they had a kitty to blame their misdeeds on when they’ve acted…naughty.
How much mischief can an invisible cat cause? Plenty, if that cat is Squishy McFluff.
While playing in the garden one day, a little white girl named Ava spies (or rather does not spy) something invisible. “This marvelous creature was fluffy and tiny, / As cute as a button, with eyes big and shiny, / A tail that swished proudly, first this way, then that. / A fabulous, friendly, invisible cat!” Ava and her new friend chase a pigeon (which gets away). Then she takes him in to meet her mum and introduces him as Squishy McFluff. Mum plays along, feeding Squishy some invisible fish, and all goes well…for a while. There’s marker on the curtains, paint on the carpet, and sweaters unraveled—all Squishy’s fault. Mum has lost patience with Squishy, but she finds it hard to send an invisible cat away. Happily, Great Grandad Bill visits to sweetly lay down the law. British rhymester Jones’ American debut riffs on the well-worn “imaginary friend/pet done it” theme in this early chapter book, the first in a series, but she does it all in rhyming couplets accompanied by Okstad’s peppy, pastel-colored pictures. In Book 2, Supermarket Sweep! (publishing simultaneously), Squishy creates mayhem in the market. Little Americans might need a translation or two, but Ava and Squishy will charm them nonetheless.
Readers will wish that they had a kitty to blame their misdeeds on when they’ve acted…naughty. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-57130-250-5
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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by Anne-Sophie Baumann ; illustrated by Didier Balicevic ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2017
There’s lots to see and do in this big city.
A set of panoramic views of the urban environment: inside and out, above and belowground, at street level and high overhead.
Thanks to many flaps, pull tabs, spinners, and sliders, viewers can take peeks into stores and apartments, see foliage change through the seasons in a park, operate elevators, make buildings rise and come down, visit museums and municipal offices, take in a film, join a children’s parade, marvel as Christmas decorations go up—even look in on a wedding and a funeral. Balicevic populates each elevated cartoon view with dozens of tiny but individualized residents diverse in age, skin tone, hair color and style, dress, and occupation. He also adds such contemporary touches as an electrical charging station for cars, surveillance cameras, smartphones, and fiber optic cables. Moreover, many flaps conceal diagrammatic views of infrastructure elements like water treatment facilities and sources of electrical power or how products ranging from plate glass and paper to bread, cheese, and T-shirts are manufactured (realistically, none of the workers in the last are white). Baumann’s commentary is largely dispensable, but she does worthily observe on the big final pop-up spread that cities are always changing—often, nowadays, becoming more environmentally friendly.
There’s lots to see and do in this big city. (Informational novelty. 6-9)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 979-1-02760-079-3
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
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