Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Of these books, Boris and Class Pets competently fill the gap between easy readers and early chapter books, while Meltdown Madness and Coco are a bit more challenging. Boris really wants a komodo dragon. He writes to the zoo to see if their komodo dragons ever take vacations. Turns out, they don't, and Boris's plans are ruined. He puts his skink in the komodo cage and tries to pass it off as a baby dragon. After it escapes, Boris reopens his letter from the zoo, finds tickets for free admission, and his whole family has an outing. Missy wants to take home the class pets for the weekend but her plans are derailed when a new girl is determined to have what she wants. In the end, Missy bests the bully. Boris's and Missy's stories are told through traditional text, many speech bubbles, and comic-book panels. Both books incorporate full-color artwork throughout. Meltodown Madness looks the most like a traditional early chapter book, with many black-and-white sketches accompanying the text. The young narrator has a magic coin that translates his words into reality (sayings like "money doesn't grow on trees" spawn a dollar bill under the tree). The boy's powers often cause more trouble than good, but in the end he is able to reason his way into a solution. Coco is in the form of a diary and includes black-and-white lists and doodles. The little girl uses her love of baking cupcakes to help save snails from becoming extinct. Words like "extinct" and "fund-raiser" are defined in doodled bubbles. All four books should be popular.-Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MN (c) Copyright 2013. 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 Horn Book Review
Missy, a little girl with a lot of pizzazz, stars in this new chapter-book series. She and pal Oscar concoct a plan to add sparkle to Missy's boring school picture day outfit; mean-girl Tiffany wants to take home the class pets--and so does Missy. With bright, jazzy illustrations and speech bubble text, both books are visually engaging. [Review covers these Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe titles: Class Pets and Picture Day.] (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Flamboyant, self-confident Missy is back for a second outing for transitioning readers. Missy has decided that it's her turn to take some class pets home, and the perfect pets for her are the class rats. (This classroom is well-equipped with pets.) The only problem is that she has to convince her mother--using age-appropriate persistence, of course. Unfortunately, the new girl in class, equally self-confident and stubborn Tiffany, also plans to bring home Eenie-Meenie, Miney and Moe. The girls' nose-to-nose confrontations and behind-the-scenes scheming are capably depicted in full-color, cartoonlike illustrations that match well with the text and effectively capture the humor of Missy's hyperbole. Missy's adventures seem destined to strike a chord mostly with girls, although her exuberant school experiences could amuse a wider audience. How does Missy work out her issues with Tiffany? It turns out her rival for rodent affection didn't know that the little critters were rats. "AAUGHH!" she screams. No lessons on learning to compromise here. An amusing and attractive early chapter book that will be popular with girls anxious to project reading competency to competing classmates. (Fiction. 5-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
