It’s twee, but it will have its audience.
Cuddly animals everywhere are lucky to have Dr. KittyCat on call.
Dr. KittyCat and her faithful mouse nurse, Peanut, take care of a menagerie of little creatures and keep excellent notes in their Furry First-aid Book. Clover the bunny has scraped his ear on a bramble. Dr. KittyCat cleans it, bandages it, and gives him a sticker. And so it goes. After a busy day of healing bumps and scrapes, Dr. KittyCat wants to unwind by knitting, but her ball of yarn is missing. Before they can find it, an emergency call comes in. Posy the puppy has gotten stuck in a play tunnel while practicing for Paws and Prizes Field Day. Into the vanbulance! Can they free her and find out how it happened? Could it involve Dr. KittyCat’s ball of yarn? Posy was at her office earlier….Clarke’s first in a new series for those just starting chapter books is high on the sweetness scale. Plentiful illustrations mix black-and-white animal photographs with crayon-style line drawings in purple; unnecessary (and somewhat disturbing) mouths have been drawn on the animals’ faces. The book may be useful in helping those afraid of visiting the doctor (it may also prompt questions as to why the cat is not eating the mouse). Clover the Bunny publishes simultaneously.
It’s twee, but it will have its audience. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: March 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-87333-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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