Review by Booklist Review
A girl embarks on writing a story about her kitten, but the kitten, who can talk, interrupts to insist that the story be about a tiger instead. The girl gives in and continues, but as the story grows, the kitten keeps suggesting improvements to give it more pep and pizzazz. After the girl uses her art supplies to create a jungle playmat in which to set their story, the book we are reading becomes the story they are writing. From that point on, each spread features the jungle setting, with the kitten walking through, fully immersed in the ever-growing adventure. The girl makes more and more exciting additions vipers, hyenas, rockets, robots, and sharks until it finally becomes too much for the kitten, who runs and hides. Woodruff's mixed-media illustrations, done in watercolor, colored pencil, pen, and ink, work well both for the quiet playroom and the wild jungle setting. Readers will love following the collaboration between the girl and her kitten in this thought- and art-provoking book.--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--A girl settles into her art space to write a story about her kitten, but her kitten is not satisfied with the plot she is developing. He wants more excitement, more action, more pizazz. The girl takes his advice and changes the setting to one that is more exciting; a jungle full of venomous and dangerous creatures. Moving through the story as it develops, the kitten, at first, takes it all in stride, but as the plot thickens, the kitten becomes frightened and wants the story to end. The girl and her precocious little kitten decide to tell a quieter story instead. Set in the home of the young girl in the beginning, the story begins to take on the setting of the tale she is writing, going from the bright light of her home to the dark tones of the ominous jungle. The emotions and feelings of the kitten are adorably evident in the way he is painted and his thoughts are highlighted for readers using red text that contrasts with the speech bubbles containing the black text of the young girl's words. The mixed media illustrations are vibrantly rich and delightfully entertaining. The spunk and charisma of the cheeky little kitten makes him an amusing and endearing character. VERDICT A charming tale of "be careful what you wish for" for young children.--Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE
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Review by Horn Book Review
A girl writing a story about a kitten grapples with her own adventurous pets editorial input. This is a story about a kitten, reads the first line of the story-within-a-story, to which the girls orange-and-black tabby responds: A kitten?! Dont you mean aTIGER! Umokay, is the childs accommodating reply, and she revises her work to suit his wishes for a tale with PEP! [and] PIZZAZZ! She places her protagonist in a jungle, and the double-page spread shows her hands applying paint and glue to her artwork, providing readers with an entertaining, visually immersive, first-person point of view. The imaginative childs art benefits from Woodruffs own deft use of cheery colors in her mixed-media illustrations, as the girl adds cartoony-looking vipers, hyenas, and ROCKETS! ROBOTS! LIGHTNING! SHARKS! to the scene, while the now-wide-eyed cat becomes increasingly (and humorously) more nervous-looking. Recognizing that her frightened kitten is not as bold as hed fancied himself, the girl finally cozies up with him in her lap to write a quieter story, though he still requests just a little bit of pizzazz. megan dowd lambert July/Aug p.122(c) Copyright 2019. 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
A child writes a story about a petwith some help.The unnamed protagonist is clearly a creative type who loves this little tiger kitten. Pictured on the title page is evidence of a previous story as well as two larger than life-size portraits of her kitten. Pencils, crayons, and craft supplies spill from a nearby bookcase. Sprawled on the flowered rug, the child begins a new saga. Initial efforts are rejected by the cat, who demands to be referred to as a tiger and advocates for more exciting exploits than chasing yarn and drinking milk. Inspired, the young author is soon wielding watercolors to create a dark jungle, dripping with snakes. Initially enthusiastic, the kitten finds the next few additions a bit intimidating and soon enough declares that it is all "TOO MUCH!" The appealing artwork was created using a variety of media, resulting in a nicely varied, upbeat look. Round eyes and heads, simply drawn shapes, and black outlines give the pictures a cheerful, cartoony feel. Shifts in perspective allow young listeners to become immersed in the story within a story, while subtle details ground the adventure in the cozy real-life setting. Speech balloons and type colors clearly indicate who is speaking in the brief conversational text. The child has pale skin and straight, black hair.Lively and amusing, this story about making stories will likely find eager listenersand may just inspire some writing projects, too. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
