Scaredy Cats

September 1, 2023
Three cats let their imaginations run wild as they wonder what might await them inside a mystery gift box. Two cats ponder the contents of a white box with pink polka dots and a bow. The white cat is convinced that it must be a cake, but the orange cat thinks it might be something more sinister. A third cat joins them. Could there be a crocodile inside? Maybe a great white shark? Or, wildest of all, a 30-ton monster guinea pig? Mack ends the book with the mystery unsolved, an open question with which readers can wrestle. The pages are laid out with the cats on the left-hand side; their imagined scenarios, set inside colorful thought bubbles, play out on the right. The illustrations are simple, clear, and appealing. The cats are drawn with realistic details: plush fur, soft paws, long whiskers. The imagined side of the page has a cartoonish touch, the surprises appearing out of the box, larger than life, which makes those scenes playful rather than frightening. The moral of the story is clear: Sometimes what we imagine is scarier than reality. Some might be disappointed that the contents of the box are never revealed, but then what's really inside isn't actually the point. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Cute kitties and silly, imaginative fun make for a tale that's perfect for preschoolers. (Picture book. 3-5)

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October 15, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 Imaginations run wild and get out of control for three kittens who are on the verge of opening a gift-wrapped present. The first cat thinks it's a cake, until a second cat comes along and suggests that it might be a hungry crocodile instead. A third cat arrives and announces that it might be both a cake and a crocodile. The scaredy cats feed one another's fears by imagining all sorts of creatures popping out of the box to attack them. Mack's illustrations are hilarious and clever. Thought bubbles from one of the cats contain the images of a tiger, a shark, and a T. rex, which grow bigger and more cartoonish with each page turn, until the scary creatures eventually take over the page. Two of the cats run away before they can open the present, leaving one curious cat to peek in the box--kids will be curious, too, as the contents remain a mystery. Pair with other mischievous-kitten books, such as Shelley Moore Thomas and Lori Nichols' No, No, Kitten! (2015) and Barbara McClintock's Three Little Kittens (2020).

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2023

PreS-K-An orange cat and a white cat, confronted by a pink and very festive-looking package, discuss what it might hold. Cake is one answer, but then so is crocodile. Worse, what if it's a crocodile with cake? By this time a gray tabby has joined the original kittens, and there is nothing like group-think for inspiring absolute hysteria. A fierce tiger and a great white shark are the next visions the kittens try out, and in Mack's pages chaos is coming in the form of a T-rex and a 30-ton monster guinea pig. They scramble, all but the original white kitten, and readers are left with the possibilities. Discuss. Reading more like a ghost story that ends with a scream instead of a resolution, text and very frenetic art create a madcap setting, and then just as quickly shut it down. VERDICT Some children love anticipation more than an ending, and they'll adore this book. It delivers an entire screwball comedy in very few pages and will inspire some very interesting post-story discussions.-Kimberly Olson Fakih

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