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
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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