Review by New York Times Review
Life's pretty great for Pepper, a fluff-ball gray house cat who has eyes like lime-green saucers and firm personal boundaries. Then his owner gives him a young companion, and it all goes south. The kitten tumbles around, making a mess. Only when the two collude to blame it on a mellow-looking dog can the cats be friends. It's a perfectly paced little tale, and Preston-Gannon composes each page with geometric precision, setting her charismatic pets against a sleek black background. MR. POSTMOUSE'S ROUNDS Written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc. 32 pp. Kids Can Press. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8) Picture a trip through a Richard Scarry-like workaday community gone bananas. The latest brilliance from Dubuc ("The Lion and the Bird") features a chipper gray mouse dutifully pulling his wagon to make deliveries to a roster of creatures including bats, octopuses, dragons and yetis. Their dwellings teem with delicately detailed secret passageways, underground bunkers, Rube Goldberg contraptions and clever references to fairy tales. The deadpan prose lets the visuals steal the show. MOUSETROPOLIS Written and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 32 pp. Holiday House. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8) Christie's snappy reimagining of "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse" gorgeously celebrates both travel and home, with graceful-looking mice whose oversize ears somehow make them seem soulful. With rich emerald hills and mysterious black trees, the country is serene and inviting, but it's hard to argue with the city's liveliness: There's "lots to eat" and "music and dancing everywhere," including a knockout spread of hip, joyful mice dancing to a boombox in a subway station. MUMMY CAT By Marcus Ewert. Illustrated by Lisa Brown. 48 pp. Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 9) Egyptology takes a Halloween-friendly turn in this winning rhymed tale of a cat once owned by a girl-queen called Hatshup-set. We meet him as a rather cute mummy, awake to check if "his loving friend" has come back. He wanders forlornly, looking at painted scenes of his life with the queen and her horrid death by scorpion bite. Brown's tableaus are dynamic and lovely, with a sinister plot playing out in the background. There are hieroglyphics to decode, too, and a key at the end. THE STORY OF DIVA AND FLEA By Mo Willems. Illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. 69 pp. Hyperion. $14.99. (Early chapter book; ages 5 to 8) Willems departs from his beloved, angsty Elephant and Piggie early readers with this lighthearted valentine to Paris, handsomely illustrated by DiTerlizzi. Diva is a small, proud dog who guards - or so she believes - a grand apartment building. Her orderly world is rocked by Flea, a street cat who's a dedicated flâneur. Together they stroll the city, helping each other overcome certain embarrassing limitations. Each brief chapter charms, topped off with a cameo by Willems at the end. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 11, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In quiet rhyme on a moonlit night, readers step inside an Egyptian pyramid where something is waking up: A cat / who moves without a breath: / a mummy cat, who's passed through Death. Once a century he wakes to see if the girl queen Hat-shup-set, his loving friend, has returned from the underworld, so that they can be together again. As he moves though the chambers, he passes beautifully painted murals that depict scenes of his life with the queen playing by the Nile, napping in her lap as well as their untimely deaths. Mummy Cat prowls until he reaches Hat-shup-set's coffin to await the queen of his heart. Will this be the night she returns? Brown's illustrations steal the show in this tale of friendship and love. Taking cues from ancient Egyptian artwork, she uses red, lapis, gold, and brown to fill the pages with objects and imagery characteristic of royal burials lotus blossoms, canopic jars, a throne, hieroglyphics (deciphered at the end) effortlessly bringing the queen's story to life. An author's note explains the process of mummification and the significance of cats in Egyptian culture and briefly describes the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, inspiration for Ewert's girl queen. Utilizing the magical draw of ancient Egypt, this informative and heartwarming story is a treasure trove for all who seek it.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Once every century, deep within an Egyptian pyramid, a mummified cat "who's passed through Death" rises from his coffin and goes to the resting place of his beloved mistress, the "girl-queen, Hat-shup-set," hoping she will rise from the dead, as well. As the cat wanders from room to room, still wrapped head to tail in white cloth, he passes by painted scenes from the queen's reign and their joyful days together-before their untimely deaths from a scorpion sting. The paintings are more than decoration: if readers are observant, they will notice that the pictures actually tell a story of jealousy, dastardly murder, and justified comeuppance. Ewert's (10,000 Dresses) rhymes are fairly conventional ("Their couch was set beside the pool/ The shade from date trees kept them cool"), but his narration has the right tinge of sadness, spookiness, and suspense. It makes a fine red herring for Brown's (Emily's Blue Period) detailed, atmospheric pictures-which is where this terrifically original and ultimately happy story actually unfolds. Ages 6-9. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Ewert's rhyming picture book is an unexpected love story that anyone with a pet can appreciate. It's set in Egypt inside a pyramid decorated with hieroglyphics and treasures. "A mummy cat, who's passed through death" reminisces about his owner, the girl-queen Hatshepsut, as he searches the rooms looking for her. "He checks to see if she's come back, his loving friend.so that this lonely time can end." Although it's obvious that the memories weigh him down at times, he perks up when he sees pictures of the two of them in painted scenes along the walls. The cat was a loyal companion and a hero to the girl, right to the end of both of their lives. Back matter includes in-depth information about mummies and the ancient queen. The hieroglyphs are defined here as well, and they can be used as an I Spy game, as they appear throughout the book. Brown's ink, gouache, watercolor, and digital collage illustrations are rich with beautiful ancient artifacts and a grouping of curious mice and moths that follow the mummy cat to the tomb of the girl he can never forget. VERDICT Kids will enjoy this memorable and touching introduction to mummies.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada © Copyright 2015. 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
The scene is set on the title page, as the sun goes down over a golden desert complete with a sphinx and pyramids. Then, deep within this maze of stone, / a creature wakes up, all alone. A dainty cat wrapped in strips of white cloth emerges from a small coffin inside the pyramid, looking to see if shes come back, his loving friend. He prowls the pyramid, looking at the statue of an Egyptian queen, then at paintings on the wall that depict their happy life together. Browns gouache, watercolor, and ink pictures offset the eeriness of the subject (mummified cat come to life!) with the bright colors in the paintings and on the artifacts in the tomb, and most of all with the lithe and inquisitive feline. The rhyming couplets continue as Mummy Cat finds the picture depicting the queens death by scorpion sting, but soon afterward he is reunited with her. The final pages give background information on Egyptian burial customs and a key to the many hieroglyphic messages that children can go back and find in the pictures. This stands out among the more straightforward nonfiction picture books about ancient Egypt, and primary-grade children will find much to ponder, explore, and discuss. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2015. 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
"Deep within this maze of stone, / a creature wakes up, all alone."On this evening in Egypt, a cat that has been mummified and placed inside a pyramid awakens "for the first time in a hundred years." Will he find what he is looking for? Ewert has created a compelling story that masterfully melds introductory information about the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification, its royalty, the people's reverence of cats, and a look at hieroglyphics. As the cat explores the tomb, he fondly remembers his owner, Hatshepsut, and all they did together. Brown expertly employs a mix of media to create illustrations in a palette of soft browns with pops of blue, yellow, and orange hues. Paintings on the pyramid's walls depict not only the cat and the queen's relationship, but also the perils of being an Egyptian ruler. The mummy cat wanders, lonely. "This cold, golden coffinis this all he gets? / Where is the girl he can never forget?" Readers will smile as the page turn reveals the mummy queen beginning to emerge from her sarcophagus. For those who would like to learn more, the backmatter includes succinct yet helpful notes on "Mummies, Cats, Queens, and Hieroglyphs." A seek-and-find feature with sets of hieroglyphs invites further investigation as well. Elegantly designed for young fans of ancient Egypt, this sweet ghost story of a pet's love for its owner transcends time. (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
