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THREE MORE STORIES YOU CAN READ TO YOUR CAT

Miller and Kelley (Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat, not reviewed, etc.) return with what has become a solidly entertaining formula for children in transition from early readers to chapter books. A second-person text addresses its protagonist, the cat of the title, as it makes its way with feline superiority through three chapters. In “Happy Birthday,” the cat’s well-meaning owner presents a series of wholly unacceptable gifts—but the rustling wrapping paper makes a big hit. The “Funny White Stuff” turns out to be much more appealing from inside the window than outside, and “Breakfast Time” itself is anticlimactic compared to the fun of waking one’s owner. The gently ironic text always preserves the cat’s-eye view—“A nap was much more interesting than a dead mouse”—and the energetic ink-and-watercolor illustrations continue this conceit by picturing the cat’s human as only a set of hands or a pair of “clumping” feet. The illustrations vary nicely in size and placement, at all times keeping the text from overwhelming the newly independent reader, and capturing their subject in all moods, from disgruntlement to playfulness to full supine glory. Cat-owning children will instantly recognize the true dynamic of the relationship, and all children should enjoy the good humor that pervades this offering, which instructs readers in the introduction: “remember to pet your cat while you read.” (Easy reader. 6-9)

Pub Date: March 25, 2002

ISBN: 0-618-11035-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002

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DIARY OF A SPIDER

The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-000153-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005

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TROUBLING TONSILS!

From the Jasper Rabbit's Creepy Tales! series

Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.

What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.

“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.

Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025

ISBN: 9781665961080

Page Count: 88

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025

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