Review by Booklist Review
Saturday's off to a terrible start, and Georgie the cat has only just woken up on the floor beside his bed in a tangle of blankets. Then, mere steps from his front door, he slips on a banana peel: It looked like it was going to be one of those days. When he finally catches up to his friends, he finds out that their day isn't going so hot either. That's when Georgie gets the idea to turn things around by filling the hours with their favorite activities making pickles, gardening, knitting, and baking. Unfortunately, none of these endeavors goes well either, but when one final mishap goes hilariously awry, the friends' laughter finally gets the best of their bad day. In this second Georgie and Friends outing (Where's the Party?, 2016), Chan strikes a fine balance between slapstick humor, good intentions, and relatable frustrations. Young readers will adore the comic illustrations and the animals' open expressions. The muted watercolors add to the story's gentle undertones, making this both a funny and comforting pick.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Everyone has a bad day sometimes, and Georgie, the feline protagonist from Chan's Where's the Party?, is no exception. He wakes up on the floor, having fallen out of bed, and his day only deteriorates from there. When he meets up with his friends, he discovers that they are all having a similarly rotten time. Not ready to surrender to the doldrums, Georgie decides that doing their favorite things might improve their spirits. Despite the friends' best efforts, disaster lurks behind every activity, whether it's pickling, knitting, or baking. Misfortunes build to a crescendo that finally forces Georgie and friends to laugh at the situation, thereby "ruining" their bad day. Chan's quirky, cartoonish illustrations imbue the story with silly humor, borrowing some comic book elements, such as word balloons and letter art. This fun take on the power of friendship and overcoming obstacles through humor presents a valuable but subtle lesson on coping with bad days. VERDICT A perfect choice for one-on-one and small group sharing.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY © Copyright 2017. 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
In the second Georgie and Friends book from Chan, a very bad day goes from calamity to a memorably good time.Georgie, a striped gray cat, wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and finds he's not alone in starting the day badly. All his friends, including Feta the dog and Lester the mouse, are having some kind of minor crisis, whether it's forgetting breakfast, sitting on fresh paint, or missing the bus. The friends decide to pool their luck, but an attempt to bake a cake proves disastrous. It's only after a moment of humor involving a large jar and Georgie's head that the animal friends are able to laugh about their situation and steer into the turn of their unlucky day. That, of course, turns "THE WORST BAD DAY EVER" into something much more enjoyable. Chan's anthropomorphic characters are expressive no matter what the species, and the book does a fine job switching gears from frustration to fun. An 11-step double-page diagram at the center of the story showing just how the baking goes wrong is a well-executed highlight. As a bonus for those who enjoy the story, the author credit reveals that at least two of the book's characters are based on Chan's real-life pets. For any kid who has spent part of the day facedown on the ground in utter defeat, Georgie and his pals make great commiserating companions. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
