Review by Booklist Review
The cover image lets you know exactly what you're in for: a simple concept delivered by means of amazing multimedia collage work. Two mice are the narrators and lay out the situation: That scary cat's back. Boy, what a bummer! / Seeing that puss could spoil our summer. Regardless, the mice, along with some other animals, prepare for their harvest feast, complete with wild decorations. When the cat comes near, all the animals join together and use their art to make them look like a single, threatening animal, effectively frightening away the intruder. But the cat evidences no malice, and so when the mice say, Guess who's the creep we didn't invite? it feels a little mean-spirited, especially given that the cat looks a bit sad to be left out. That quibble aside, Ehlert's use of paper, fruit, seeds, and string is labyrinthine enough to have young children tracing their routes, and so vivid they'll want to touch the page to make sure it's not real. A visual glossary helpfully identifies the disparate collage materials.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With photographs of autumn vegetation joining handmade paper and twine, Ehlert's trademark collages take on an expressively organic flavor. Blue mice composed of torn fabric, fibrous limbs and seed pod tails are distressed about the return of a "scary cat," just in time to spoil their harvest party ("Guess who's the creep we didn't invite?"). Using vegetables, flowers and nuts, the clever mice devise a plan to scare the cat away and their efforts pay off on a foldout page. Endnotes offer a discussion about pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns amid color photographs, as well as a spread showing off autumn plants and vegetables. Ages 3-7. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-The mice are having a harvest party in the garden and everyone is invited, except for the scary cat. He eats meat and makes the mice feel "edgy." Once the house lights are turned off and night closes in, the decorations start looking mighty spooky. Perhaps they're just scary enough to give that pesky cat a fright? Indeed, he ends up being a scaredy cat and the story concludes with the mice partying on. Ehlert uses her signature collage artwork to evoke the textures, shapes, and colors of autumn that pop against the red backgrounds, teal paper, and green vegetables. The art is more frenetic here than in some of her other work, but it suits the story perfectly. It's only natural that the garden would be a whirlwind of activity. The rhyme scheme works well, although there is one odd line: "Seeing that puss could spoil our summer." Yes, "summer" rhymes with the previous "bummer," but the action takes place in the fall. The end is enhanced by photos of various squashes, nuts, and fruits (all labeled) as well as a recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds. This title will please Ehlert's fans, and it is tailor-made for autumn-themed programs. Pair it with Anne Rockwell's Apples and Pumpkins (S & S, 1989) or Carin Berger's The Little Yellow Leaf (HarperCollins, 2008).-Laura Lutz, formerly at Queens Borough Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A pair of mice, with the assistance of some of their garden-robbing peers, prepare a harvest feast, not forgetting to make arrangements to scare off that pesky cat. Incorporating photographs of harvest fruits and vegetables (with an abundance of Indian corn and gourds) into her trademark collages fashioned of fabric and cut- and torn-paper, Ehlert arranges a series of striking tableaux as the mice (resplendent in soft, blue handmade paper and sporting braided-twine limbs) go about their business, the cat (with cherry nose and pumpkin-seed teeth) peeking in from the margins. Although some spreads may well overwhelm with the complexity of their detail, the mice's insouciant narration and the inviting seek-and-find nature of the illustrations will keep kids coming back. (pumpkin facts) (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
