Turns out, a short, furry knight in shining armor is the hero we all deserve.
An adventure-adverse feline and his fearless sidekick are transported to the days of knights and chivalry.
It’s not easy being a wizard’s cat. Murray the kitty would be perfectly content sleeping and eating his days away, but unfortunately he belongs to the “rubbish” wizard Fumblethumb, who has accidentally cast a spell on Murray’s cat flap. After Fumblethumb mistakenly turns a delicious frosted bun into a perky bunny (named Bun, appropriately), Bun and Murray make their way through the flap and find themselves transported from their ordinary suburban town to a medieval castle. There, they learn that Princess Rubytoes has fallen for the local gardener, Muddy Mick. Alas, their love is threatened by the devious Sir Nasty, who’s determined to marry Rubytoes and, assuming Murray’s here to court the princess, promptly challenges the cat to a joust. Will Murray, with Bun in tow, defeat the villain and aid the princess? This early chapter book has a distinctly British sensibility that charms with ease. Murray is 100% cat from tip to toe (his preferences run to “snoozing, napping, and sleeping”), yet he’s more than willing to help those in need. Bun’s the perfect foil for Murray, literally bouncing off walls in his eagerness to assist. Delightful line art highlights the jokes and oozes utter cuteness. All human characters are light-skinned.
Turns out, a short, furry knight in shining armor is the hero we all deserve. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9798217031016
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
The tables are turned and the big bad wolf from traditional fairy tales is cast as a mild-mannered, aspiring cook in this hilarious topsy-turvy tale from Fearnley. Determined to assuage his yearning for pancakes, the gastronomically-challenged Mr. Wolf sets out to make a stack himself. However, the would-be chef discovers a staggering amount of hurdles that must be overcome before he can enjoy his repast: reading the recipe, making a list, purchasing the ingredients. Like the little red hen, Mr. Wolf requests help from his neighbors along the way, and these characters—Chicken Little, Wee Willy Winkle, Gingerbread Man, and others—have shed their more benign personalities to reveal themselves as a rude, scurrilous bunch. Mr. Wolf retains his poise with each rebuff and ends up doing the work alone; when the pushy neighbors barge into his kitchen to share the food, Mr. Wolf enjoys—in true fairy-tale fashion—far more than pancakes for his meal. Fearnley’s light tone keeps the abrupt demise of the ill-mannered bunch from being morbid, and the switch in Mr. Wolf’s demeanor, from polite to hungry, is more funny than frightful. The brightly hued illustrations conjure up an imaginary land that tickles the funnybone, where “Little Jack’s Plum Pies” can be purchased from “Simple Simon’s Pie & Cake Emporium.” Wryly funny and childlike. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-888444-76-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
From McDonald (Tundra Mouse, 1997, etc.), a haunting, dramatic glimpse of the Bone Keeper, a trickster with special transformational powers. Some say Bone Woman is a ghost; some envision her with three heads that view past, present, and future simultaneously. Most, however, call her the “Skeleton Maker” or “Keeper of Bones.” Chanting, shaking, moaning, and wailing, the Bone Keeper is frenzied as she sorts bones; not until the end of the book are readers told, in murmuring lines of free verse, what the Bone Keeper is creating in her mysterious desert cave. Out of the darkness, a wolf springs to life, leaps from the cave, howling, a symbol of resurrection and proof of life’s cyclical nature. Also keeping readers guessing as to the Bone Keeper’s final creation are Karas’s paintings; they, too, require that the final piece of the puzzle be placed before all are understood. The coloring and textures embody the desert setting in the evening, showing the fearsome cave and sandy shadows that wait to release the mystery of the bones. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2559-9
Page Count: 30
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
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