It's an odd book, but for anyone who has mice on the brain like this cat, there are more than enough cute ones in this book...
An unnamed cat experiences a metaphysical crisis.
The cat in question has mice on the brain—not just a few or even dozens, but 1 million. This is a feline whose mind can conjure up "ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR mice zooming along on a triple-decker bus" as well as a single perfect mouse, "which he would see in great detail." The cat is so focused on a goal of 1 million mice imagined that he forgoes time with other cats. But one last mouse remains elusive, driving the very purposeful kitty to distraction. When that last mouse appears to visit in actual form (it's unclear if it really happens or is imagined), cat and mouse have a wonderful day together, leaving the cat more hopeful and social. As readers might expect, the many, many mice are rendered in loving detail, and it's all very adorable. But the cat's anxiety about the limits of his imagination seems scarily joyless, and it's only after either a supernatural or coincidental visit from a biological enemy or a complete break with reality that this cat is somehow cured. Adults: this one might require more explaining and shoulder shrugging over the plot than bedtime might accommodate.
It's an odd book, but for anyone who has mice on the brain like this cat, there are more than enough cute ones in this book to satisfy .(Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59270-213-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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