Irresistible fun with one rowdy raccoon.
Catsitting should be no problem for Granny, right?
When a White-presenting family leaves for a one-night camping trip, Granny assures them she won’t have any trouble watching Satsuki the cat. After all, there is an instruction sheet for caring for little Satsuki taped to the refrigerator: “Very sweet! Loves to be brushed. Picky eater. Please don’t let the cat out.” When the cat spies a raccoon through the window, it jumps off of the refrigerator in fright, knocking Granny’s glasses off of her face and under the fridge. Bereft of her spectacles, Granny can barely see a thing and mistakes the raccoon for an escaped Satsuki. Granny coaxes “Kitty” inside with some cat food; meanwhile, the real Satsuki slips outside. Kitty loves the bowl of kibble Granny offers as well as the cupcakes she makes but not so much the bath that follows. Granny tires herself out keeping Kitty under control, and when she goes to bed, the raccoon goes wild, wreaking havoc throughout the house. In the morning, glassesless Granny can’t see the mess, and when the family returns, she rushes off before they can apprehend the disaster, relieved to get away from the exhausting “cat.” Jordan-Glum’s tale of mistaken pet identity will elicit giggles. The text is spare, narrated using crisp sentences, while the acrylic, watercolor, and pencil spot art and full-bleed illustrations do the heavy lifting and inspire all the laughs. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Irresistible fun with one rowdy raccoon. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-76804-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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