A charming and simply told story with a clear message.
An illustrated children’s tale of one cat’s adventure in the big city and the lessons she learned along the way.
Bunny, a feline, lives a charmed life in a posh Manhattan apartment alongside her owners—a nice couple who adopted her from the local animal shelter. Bunny soon makes friends with Mike the Mouse, who decides to make the hole that he’s nibbled in a closet wall big enough for Bunny to slip through—and their adventures begin. But soon Bunny sees a photo caption in a copy of the New York Times that really disturbs her: “Central Park carriage horse ‘Joe,’ one of several allegedly mistreated by its driver.” Bunny doesn’t know what alleged means, but the rest of the sentence is clear enough, so she decides to help Joe escape his situation. With the help of Mike the Mouse, Polly the Pigeon, and various other friends she meets along the way, Bunny finally gets to Central Park to make her daring rescue. Over the course of Bloom’s book, Bunny embodies the idea that small creatures can do great things; for example, when Joe the Carriage Horse expresses disbelief that Bunny can help him, the plucky cat reminds him that she’s “a tiny thing who’s very determined.” Young readers will likely find that determination to be contagious, and it may appeal to even the tiniest animal lovers. The book’s simple prose and Mayell’s eye-catching ink-and-watercolor illustrations make the most out of a minimalist color palette; Bunny’s dark black fur and bright green eyes are prominent as the most richly drawn images in every blue-tinged picture.
A charming and simply told story with a clear message.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780997642537
Page Count: 74
Publisher: Positivity Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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