Even a brush with death (or a bad tooth) can’t reform this Bad Kitty. Good thing. We’d miss her! (Graphic/nonfiction hybrid....
Bad Kitty isn’t eating? It must be a sign of the apocalypse…or worse.
Bad Kitty once ate a meatloaf the size of a car in 5 minutes, so if she’s not eating, something must be horribly wrong. It’s time for a visit to the vet—wait, where’d Bad Kitty go? First task: find the kitty. Then don the riot gear to get her into her cat carrier. When the vet (who knows just how to handle her) knocks Bad Kitty out with a shot, she visits the (kitty) Pearly Gates, where the feline St. Peter tells her she tormented Puppy too much to pass through. She’s given one day to do something nice for Puppy, or she will be sent to Puppydog Paradise (which is far from idyllic for cats). Can Bad Kitty rescue her afterlife with a kind act for her drooling nemesis? Is it all just a dream? After the homage to Looney Tunes that was Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble (2014), Bruel gives an appreciative nod to Tom and Jerry; it’s a lagniappe that Bad Kitty’s mobs of young fans may not notice, though their adults will probably get a few chuckles. Kids will just enjoy Uncle Murray’s fun facts (all about cat health and visits to the vet this time, of course) and Bad Kitty’s ornery behavior; both are as entertaining as ever.
Even a brush with death (or a bad tooth) can’t reform this Bad Kitty. Good thing. We’d miss her! (Graphic/nonfiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59643-977-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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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
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