Tucker's Beetle Band

May 1, 2011

Gr 1-3-Emerging readers will appreciate Feldman's contemporary setting as Tucker Mouse, Harry Cat, and Chester Cricket contend with a beetle rock band disturbing their sleep under Times Square. The band is practicing to win the Battle of the Bug Bands competition and travel the country. Harry convinces Tucker that quiet will return once the beetles hit the road, and Tucker becomes their manager. Chester Cricket is called in to play drums at the last minute and, despite his novice status, the band wins the competition and Tucker is sad when the beetles are gone. The Ivanovs' intricate ink and watercolor illustrations reflect the charm of Garth Williams's characters and original setting but add many details including varied visual perspectives and characters that exude facial and kinesthetic expression. Readers will pore over the instruments in the beetle band, including a drum set made of a fuse, thimble, button, and bottle cap. The picture depicting the band playing on the woodsy floor of Bryant Park with the backdrop of New York City skyscrapers is a mini vacation. This well-told tale will appeal to the many young readers and their friends whose family members are in bands, and it serves as a wonderful introduction to the beloved characters in George Selden's The Cricket in Times Square (Farrar, 1960).-Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2011
In Rescue, Harry Cat helps Tucker Mouse escape from a shop (Chester Cricket doesn't appear in this story). Tucker becomes the manager of a bug band (whose noisy rehearsals originally drove him crazy) in Beetle. While Feldman's text and the Ivanovs' look-alike art aren't on par with Selden and Williams's original work, these are two perfectly pleasant easy-reader episodes based on beloved characters.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)