A sweet series opener, especially for the cat lovers in the chapter-book set.
Kitty uses her feline superpowers in this new series.
Kitty, a young girl, wants to be just like her superhero mother, who goes out at night to help people. Unfortunately, Kitty doesn’t feel brave and is afraid of the darkness outside. With her mother gone one night, Kitty puts on her superhero costume. While she is playing pretend, a frantic cat, Figaro, jumps in through her window, looking for Kitty’s mom. Mistaken for a real superhero, Kitty is drawn into an adventure to uncover the mysterious noise coming from the clock tower. With her magic superpowers heightened by the moon, Kitty faces her biggest fear, makes new cat friends, and discovers her own inner superhero. Harrison writes an amusing story of bravery and self-confidence, encouraging newly independent readers with Mom’s words: “Don’t let fear hold you back. You’re braver than you think.” Løvlie sets an incredible scene with her dramatic black-and-white illustrations on almost every page. Multiple pages are entirely black with white text and drawings, immersing the readers in this nighttime story. Included are character introductions and super facts about cats. Kitty, her mom, and her younger brother all have pale skin and straight, black hair; her dad’s hair is lighter.
A sweet series opener, especially for the cat lovers in the chapter-book set. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-293472-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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