A seriously funny and delightfully nonlethal outing.
What can Fluffy do? Her cuteness is lethal!
“Fluffy McWhiskers [is] so cute that if you saw her… / you’d explode.” A lion, two snakes, an elephant, a koala all gaze upon her and…Kaboom! Because of this, she’s quite sad and lonely and determines to make herself less cute. She makes herself an ugly sweater. She gives herself a bad haircut. She even puts a scary bag on her head…“but that was ridiculously cute!” (Her goldfish explodes.) When the newspaper publishes her photo, animals everywhere explode; she hops a rocket to outer space—the aliens in a passing UFO explode. Next, she moves to a remote tropical island. No one explodes, but pizza delivery takes forever, and tummy scratches are nearly impossible. She makes some fruit friends…but then she gets hungry. One day she hears a bark, and she can’t find a place to hide—but when she’s face to face with a so-ugly-it’s-cute pug, the dog doesn’t explode! Moreover, the pug is confused that Fluffy doesn’t explode. They’re the perfect match…but passing cruise ships should beware! Martin’s foolish tale of a killer cutie-pie cat will have readers old and young exploding with laughter with its deadpan humor. Newcomer Tavis’ artwork with its rainbow clouds of exploding animals, all killed by cuteness overload, will multiply the laughs exponentially. Fluffy really iscute, resembling a purple powder puff with enormous eyes more than a cat. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A seriously funny and delightfully nonlethal outing. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4145-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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