This series opener is a must for young humans owned by furry masters.
Taking care of a human has its benefits, but is it better than being an unattached pussycat?
A black-and-white kitty who thinks of himself as “Mr. Independent” has his life planned out. He gets great food at the Italian or the Chinese restaurants by using “the Look” on the staff; who can say no to an adorable kitty face? He avoids the animal control officer, and he spends time with his three human-owning friends: dog Ben, cat Farrah, and rat-in-a-plastic-ball George. They try to convince him having a human is a good idea, but Mr. Independent likes having no responsibilities. But when a human family moves in to an abandoned house he frequents, he goes to investigate…and smells macaroni and cheese topped with tuna. He uses the Look, and the cat-loving little human girl gives him treats and falls in love. He starts to see that, with a little training, a pet human might have its advantages. Cartoonist, picture-book author, and cat-channeler Surovec leaps into early chapter books with a cat’s-eye view of life that will make a splendid introduction to longer fiction for young feline fanciers. Each page features a bit of text and an integrated black-and-white cartoon or two.
This series opener is a must for young humans owned by furry masters. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62672-073-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
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