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THE MINIATURE POLAR BEAR

Name: THE MINIATURE POLAR BEAR
Author: Rogue Software

developed by Rogue Software ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2014

An amiable-enough story weighed down by a few misguided illustrations.

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A boy finds the perfect pet hiding under his bed—trouble is, his mother just won’t believe him.

During a trip to the zoo, Jimmy decides that a polar bear would be a perfect pet, but his mother brushes him off, saying, “Don’t be silly, Jimmy….They are big and wild, and they eat little boys like you.” To his delight, Jimmy discovers a miniature polar bear hiding under his bed that night. Jimmy will amuse readers with his mop of curly hair, goofy expressions and earnest attempts to convince his mother that his new pet is real. The bright cartoon illustrations are full of funny details, but they suffer from a few significant problems. Secondary characters suffer are grossly exaggerated in places. When they get angry, sister Lucy looks like a demented monster, with her florescent pink face, and Mum looks like a Bratz doll. Jimmy’s black friend Tumi occasionally looks like the worst kind of caricature. Narration and text are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese, with an unusual option that allows viewers to read and listen to two languages at the same time. Easy-to-use controls allow users to turn off narration, music and text from the home page. Animation keeps young readers engaged on each page without overwhelming the story.

An amiable-enough story weighed down by a few misguided illustrations. (Requires iOS 6 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 3, 2014

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rogue Software

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

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FRANKENKITTY

by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Mini Grey ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2026

A top-grade creepy/funny addition to the spooky-picture-book canon.

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Is a cute kitty built in a castle’s laboratory responsible for the bad things that start happening?

“Here is a tale to chill the blood and thrill the soul—a tale of spooky paws and eerie claws.” The disembodied talking skull who narrates this story is alluding to Frankenkitty, who was engineered out of multiple cats, with visible stitches to show for it. As the house ghouls look on, Frankenkitty’s inventor laments, “I’ve created a monster!” Sure enough, bad things start happening: The mummy begins to unravel. Kitchen mice terrorize the cook. Certainly, Frankenkitty must be to blame. But after the butler, who resembles Frankenstein’s Monster, tosses Frankenkitty outside into the snow, where he looks forlorn and adorable, the skull has second thoughts: “Wait! Did we get it wrong?” It’s up to readers to make the call. Powell-Tuck goes all in with her spoof of old-time horror tropes, although kids needn’t know who Boris Karloff is to be tickled. For the book’s every scare (a severed foot and hand, their bones visible), there’s a wink (in a bit of metafictive fun, the skull urges readers to opt for a story about “unicorns, beasts, or bears”). Grey, a glutton for detail, leans on menacing reds and sickly greens to capture the frights, which include, in a line for the spooky-story ages, “walls as gray as old underpants.” Human characters vary in skin tone.

A top-grade creepy/funny addition to the spooky-picture-book canon. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 7, 2026

ISBN: 9781664300972

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

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DON'T DO IT, DOUG!
by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Duncan Beedie

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THE MOONLIGHT ZOO
by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Karl James Mountford

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THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS STORE
by Maudie Powell-Tuck ; illustrated by Hoang Giang

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OTIS

From the Otis series

by Loren Long & illustrated by Loren Long ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009

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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)