Review by Booklist Review
Weasels: cute, frolicking rodents or agents of world domination? Debut author-illustrator Dolan clearly demonstrates the latter in this zany story. The weasels, who all work in the control room of a world-domination machine, are five seconds away from their goal when something goes terribly wrong, and the machine breaks. What to do? In a furry flurry, the weasels scramble to find a solution. Did they try turning it off and turning it on again? Maybe if they had one more cup of coffee they could find a solution. Clever readers will know what the real problem is long before the distractible weasels figure it out, but that won't stop kids from poring over each oversize spread to see what each nutty weasel is up to. Dolan ratchets up the already-silly premise with her cute, cartoony illustrations of industrious, big-eyed rodents scrambling over the page up and around machines awash in knobs, levers, and reels. From the clever before-and-after endpapers to the satisfying concluding countdown, Weasels will tickle your funny bone.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"Weasels. What do you think they do all day?" asks debut author Dolan, and her answer-which has nothing to do with animal behavior and everything to do with world domination-marks her as a talent to watch. In the first of many carefully inked, densely populated, and literally laugh-out-loud spreads, the weasels are seen gathered in a war room, plotting moves on a giant strategy map of the world as their fearless, monocle-wearing leader pets a mouse; it's Dr. Strangelove meets Goldfinger meets Meerkat Manor. There's just one hitch: their success hinges on a very large, very complicated gizmo called the MACHINE, which is currently reporting a status of "IT'S BROKEN." As the weasels put their best minds to work figuring out the problem, Dolan fills her pages with visual and verbal jokes about coffee obsessions, tech geeks, bureaucracy, and unsafe workplace practices ("I'm entirely confident that this huge drill will fix everything," declares one weasel unconvincingly). Will the weaselly weasels make the fix and carry out their dastardly plan? Dolan leaves readers hanging-but they won't mind a bit. Ages 5-8. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-While most people carelessly assume that weasels are munching nuts and berries in the woods, they may be overlooking the vast hi-tech headquarters from which the creatures are plotting world domination. Dolan is the author/illustrator who's reporting the story here. With generous visual detail, she unveils the numerous characters, situations, and machinery involved in the conspiracy. Dozens of subplots and personalities crowd the pages. Patient readers will enjoy the monocled, Mao-jacketed, mouse-carrying leader; the robots and mad scientists; the enthusiast who insists, "I'm entirely confident that this huge drill will fix everything"; and the white-furred, blue-scarved weasel who brings around the coffee (weasels LOVE their coffee) and who unwittingly ruins, then revives, the evil scheme. Children who prefer a fast-moving plot or individual character development may find Dolan's book challenging. Those who take the time to explore the riot of sardonic cartoonery will be well rewarded.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2014. 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
Weasels. What do you think they do all day?" They "plot world domination!" Detail-rich spreads show weasels in lab coats confronting technical difficulties in a mission-control-type setting. Young children don't seem to be the book's intended audience, given its rampant coffee jokes and lines like "We could reconbobulate the hydrostability devices," but this stuff will tickle a more mature (and geeky) readership. (c) Copyright 2014. 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
Ultracaffeinated weasels plotting world domination face a setback when their room-sized, Rube Goldbergian machine breaks down. They scurry to troubleshoot, many of them inappropriately insistent on deploying tools like a blow torch, saws and a large electric drill. Luckily, the Health and Safety officer prevails, and the gang repairs to the laboratory to tinker. Dolan's mixed-media double-page spreads feature busy, often multileveled interiors, with scores of critters furiously causing as much trouble as they ameliorate. In the lab, one weasel activates a fire extinguisher while another demurs: "I just thought a few candles would cheer the place up." Observant kids will discern that Dolan cleverly employs a blue-eyed white weasel as both the cause and the solver of the machine's malfunction. Their parents will chuckle over the Blofeld-like weasel stroking a white mouse. The final twist bucks the banal, customary "Good triumphs over evil" message in favor of something more akin to "Try, try again." Darned if those weaselly co-conspirators haven't conquered the world after all: A page turn reveals a new currency, freshly installed heads of state and a revisionist retrofit for an Egyptian sphinx. Amid sight gags, crossed wires and way too many espresso drinks, these weasels rule! (Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
