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HAMSTERSAURUS REX

Name: HAMSTERSAURUS REX
Author: Tom O'Donnell
ISBN: 978-0-06-237754-8

From the Hamstersaurus Rex series , Vol. 1

by Tom O'Donnell ; illustrated by Tim Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

A certain pleaser where furry fictions are well-loved.

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Taking care of a pet can be time-consuming, but caring for a secret mutant hamster could take over your life.

When a hamster mysteriously appears at the back of Mr. Copeland’s sixth-grade classroom, Sam Gibbs, though he hasn’t been the most popular student since the, ah, caricature-drawing incident, gets to name it: Hamstersaurus Rex (due to its tiny T-rex arms). Hammie escapes and later saves Sam from Kiefer “Beefer” Vanderkoff, Horace Hotwater Middle School’s dimmest bully, by dropping a solar system made of pennies on Beefer’s head. After gorging on SmilesCorp snacks and a different product called Dinoblast Powerpacker, Hammie mutates into a part-dinosaur, part-hamster eating machine with a fondness for Sam, who can’t take Hammie home due to his mother’s fur allergy. Can Sam keep Hammie a secret, save the rodent from Beefer’s revenge, and feed the furry garbage disposal enough to quiet its rampages? O’Donnell kicks off a new series with an illustrated origin story sure to please fans of Betty G. Birney’s Humphrey and Lincoln Peirce’s Big Nate. High jinks are funny and gross without being too rude, and characters are developed just realistically enough to ensure readers will identify with Sam and his female best friend, Dylan. Miller’s cartoons depict a largely white student body, including Sam, Beefer, and Dylan.

A certain pleaser where furry fictions are well-loved. (Science fiction. 7-11)

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-237754-8

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
HOMEROOMS & HALL PASSES
by Tom O'Donnell

- BOOK REVIEW
HAMSTERSAURUS REX VS. SQUIRREL KONG
by Tom O'Donnell ; illustrated by Tim Miller

- BOOK REVIEW
FOR THE LOVE OF GELO!
by Tom O'Donnell

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MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS

by Richard Atwater ; Florence Atwater ; illustrated by Robert Lawson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1938

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE ATE PIZZA

From the First Cat in Space series , Vol. 1

by Mac Barnett ; illustrated by Shawn Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2022

Epic lunacy.

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Will extragalactic rats eat the moon?

Can a cybernetic toenail clipper find a worthy purpose in the vast universe? Will the first feline astronaut ever get a slice of pizza? Read on. Reworked from the Live Cartoon series of homespun video shorts released on Instagram in 2020 but retaining that “we’re making this up as we go” quality, the episodic tale begins with the electrifying discovery that our moon is being nibbled away. Off blast one strong, silent, furry hero—“Meow”—and a stowaway robot to our nearest celestial neighbor to hook up with the imperious Queen of the Moon and head toward the dark side, past challenges from pirates on the Sea of Tranquility and a sphinx with a riddle (“It weighs a ton, but floats on air. / It’s bald but has a lot of hair.” The answer? “Meow”). They endure multiple close but frustratingly glancing encounters with pizza and finally deliver the malign, multiheaded Rat King and its toothy armies to a suitable fate. Cue the massive pizza party! Aside from one pirate captain and a general back on Earth, the human and humanoid cast in Harris’ loosely drawn cartoon panels, from the appropriately moon-faced queen on, is light skinned. Merch, music, and the original episodes are available on an associated website.

Epic lunacy. (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)