More seaworthy fun with this endearing feline hero.
Trim Helps Out (2023) gave the seafaring kitten a chance for (accidental) heroism, but he still wants a steady role on the ship.
This third book in the series finds Trim again at sea with Captain Flinders (based on British explorer Matthew Flinders, who sailed around Australia with his own cat). The ever helpful feline wants to lend a hand. But his well-meaning attempts exasperate his fellow animals, as well as the cook, the artist, the gardener, and even the captain. Trim paws the biscuit dough, knocks over the flower that the ship’s artist is sketching, and scatters the gardener’s dirt. And his relentless mewing annoys the ship’s dog, Penny. Even Princess Bea the rat, napping in the hold, finds Trim’s mews irritating. But when a discouraged Trim goes off to bathe himself—quietly—he becomes surprisingly awash: A huge water cask has sprung a leak. Now Trim discovers that his screechy cries can be an unexpected asset: Ear-splitting YOWLS bring “all hands on deck.” Trim realizes that purring is his steady job, but yowls are good for an emergency. Cartoon-style line and color illustrations faithfully depict a 19th-century ship and a cat’s hilarious antics. Adorable Trim makes a winning, relatable protagonist as he attempts to find a place for himself on the ship. Human faces are generally not depicted, though Captain Flinders is light-skinned, and the artist is brown-skinned.
More seaworthy fun with this endearing feline hero. (historical note) (Early chapter book. 7-10)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781682632932
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Lively fun with animal friends.
Has Plum’s pep deserted him?
Several animals from the Athensville Zoo are on their way to visit an elementary school. Overconfident Itch the ningbing (an Australian marsupial), unaware that zookeeper Lizzie will be doing all the talking, looks forward to “lecturing eager young minds.” Plum, the usually chipper peacock, on the other hand, is anxious—maybe the schoolchildren won’t like him or he’ll get lost. So when they arrive at the school to find the students have been sent home due to a blizzard, Plum is relieved. The animals are left in a school gym for the night until three self-important class mice free them. Itch heads for the library to meet the learned turtle, but Plum reluctantly explores with his friends. When his anxiety peaks, they reassure him, and when the mice reject Meg, another peacock, as “borrrring” and uncool, they buoy her as well before everyone comes together to save Itch, who finds himself outside and stranded in a snowdrift. Unlike Leave It to Plum (2022), this is not a mystery, and the relationship focus shifts from Lizzie to the rodents, but the pace is brisk, and sequel seekers will be pleased to revisit familiar characters (if dismayed that Itch’s longing for knowledge leads to his downfall). In Phelan’s engaging grayscale pen-and-wash illustrations, Lizzie has short curly hair; text and art cue her as Latine.
Lively fun with animal friends. (how to draw Plum) (Chapter book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-307920-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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