A must for any child with a cat in the family.
When it comes to mischief, no pet can top a pampered cat.
Suzy has long white fur and impossibly large blue eyes. Her full name is Suzy Cat Baggot. She is mostly well-behaved, but “when she felt like it, she could be really naughty.” She loves to hop up onto Granddad’s lap and get his trousers all hairy. Once, Suzy “did a piddle” on Dad’s golf bag, and the smell won’t go away. Suzy also thinks the new sofa will be perfect for sharpening her claws. Whenever anything bad happens, Suzy gets the blame—“usually because she had done it.” Drat that cat! One day, Suzy stops eating; the children try everything, but she just lies listlessly on the bed. Dad takes her to the vet, who advises that she stay overnight. The house seems very empty without her. The children cry and even look in the garden for a place to bury Suzy. Two days later, Suzy has recovered and can come home. Everybody celebrates, treating Suzy like a queen. Late that night, Suzy visits Charlie, the dog next door, and explains that she was just pretending. She wanted the family “to know JUST how much they love [her].” Ross smartly keeps the text simple, letting his hilarious illustrations and keen understanding of feline psychology shine.
A must for any child with a cat in the family. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2030-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
And the littlest ones will demand to know where the heck that rabbit went.
Klassen’s coy effort combines spare illustration, simple, repetitive text and a “payback’s a bear” plot.
A somber, sepia-toned bear longs for his missing hat and questions a series of forest animals about its whereabouts. While everyone denies seeing it, a rabbit (sporting, readers will note, a pointy red chapeau) protests a bit too indignantly. Ten pages on, as the bear describes his hat for a solicitous deer, realization hits: “I HAVE SEEN MY HAT.” The accompanying illustration shows the indignant bear suffused in the page’s angry red. There’s the subsequent dash and confrontation, followed by bear in hat and rabbit—well, nowhere to be seen. Klassen’s ink-and-digital creatures, similarly almond-eyed and mouth-less, appear stiff and minimalist against creamy white space. Foliage is suggested with a few ink strokes (though it’s quite bashed-up after rabbit goes missing). The text type, New Century Schoolbook, intentionally evokes the visually comfy, eminently readable design of 1960s children’s primers. Font colors correlate with the animals’ dialogue as well as the illustrations’ muted color palette, and the four-sentence denials (first rabbit’s, then bear’s) structurally echo each other. Indubitably hip, this will find plenty of admirers. Others might react to a certain moral vapidity.
And the littlest ones will demand to know where the heck that rabbit went. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5598-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
Totes adorbs.
A cuddly, squishy pug’s puggy-wuggy diary.
Equipped with both #pugunicorn and #pughotdog outfits, pug Baron von Bubbles (aka Bub) is the kind of dog that always dresses to impress. Bub also makes lots of memorable faces, such as the “Hey, you’re not the boss of me!” expression aimed at Duchess, the snooty pink house cat. Some of Bub’s favorite things include skateboarding, a favorite teddy, and eating peanut butter. Bub also loves Bella, who adopted Bub from a fair—it was “love at first sniff.” Together, Bub and Bella do a lot of arts and crafts. Their latest project: entering Bella’s school’s inventor challenge by making a super-duper awesome rocket. But, when the pesky neighborhood squirrel, Nutz, makes off with Bub’s bear, Bub accidentally ruins their project. How will they win the contest? More importantly, how will Bella ever forgive him? May’s cutesy, full-color cartoon art sets the tone for this pug-tastic romp for the new-to–chapter-books crowd. Emojilike faces accentuate Bub’s already expressive character design. Bub’s infectious first-person narration pushes the silly factor off the charts. In addition to creating the look and feel of a diary, the lined paper helps readers follow the eight-chapter story. Most pages have fewer than five sentences, often broken into smaller sections. Additional text appears in color-coded speech bubbles. Bella presents white.
Totes adorbs. (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53003-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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