hamsters

Ferocious Fluffity by Erica S. Perl

| Tasha

Ferocious Fluffity by Erica S Perl

Ferocious Fluffity by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Henry Cole

Released July 19, 2016.

The author and illustrator of Chicken Butt return with another uproariously funny picture book. Mr. Drake brings a new pet into his classroom. It’s a tiny hamster. They aren’t allowed to hold her, but one day when Mr. Drake is late, the children take her out of her cage. But Fluffity is not as sweet as she looks. She bites all of the children! Then she chases them down the hall and continues to bite them as they hide in the library. When Mr. Drake discovers them all, Fluffity bites him too and won’t let go. They finally get Fluffity back into her cage and figure out that she needs exercise and lots of things to chew on to be happiest. In fact, they do so well that Mr. Drake brings in a new pet for the classroom!

Now, I must admit that when I start a picture book and it is in rhyme I tend to worry and even shudder a bit. Here Perl handles her rhyme with panache, using it to up the frenzied action and to increase the humor as well. The rhyme adds a galloping pace to the book that is wonderful as well as making it a treat to read aloud. The humor is broad and never subtle, in other words perfect for small children to laugh right along with. It is also appreciated that in the end the students learn how to care for Fluffity rather than getting rid of the little nipper.

Cole’s illustrations add to the zany feel of the book. Just look into the eyes of Fluffity and you will know that something is about to go wrong. The ball of fur may be tiny, but her glare would have me hiding in a library too. Just like the writing, the illustrations are ideal for sharing out loud too with their bright colors, large format and action-filled images.

Sure to keep even the wiggliest preschooler listening, this picture book is a great finishing read for a story time welcoming children back to school. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams.

 

Review: Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

| Tasha

Hamster Princess Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

The author of the Dragonbreath series brings her signature humor and art to a new heroine. Harriet is a hamster princess though she hates the need to be ethereal and drooping. She’d much rather be going cliff diving and riding her quail. But the princess was cursed at birth by an evil fairy, sound familiar? When she turns 12, she will prick her finger on a hamster wheel and fall deeply asleep. But Harriet sees the curse in a more positive way. It means that she is invincible until she is 12 years old. So she heads off to have adventures, slay monsters, and have a great time. But then comes her twelfth birthday, and the Ratbone the evil fairy arrives in person to see it through. With an unbreakable curse on her head, how is a hamster princess to prevail? You will just have to read it to find out!

Vernon takes Sleeping Beauty and turns it around in this novel that is a mix of text and graphics. Princess Harriet is wonderful. She breaks all of the rules, insisting that since she is a princess and doing something therefore princesses must do it. She creates a reputation for herself throughout the region among the more snobbish kingdoms. At the same time though she has had a blast, keeping things from her mother even as she slays ogres and saves giants from meddling Jacks. Throughout the book, Vernon mentions different fairy tales, and even works the glass mountain directly into the story. Fans of fairy tales will find a lot to love here.

The illustrations are funny and wonderfully active. This is not a princess graphic novel that spends any time at all on daintiness. It is much more about great laughs, action scenes and interpreting what her quail meant by his latest “Querk!” The graphic novel elements play perfectly into the story, often being used to move the tale forward on their own. These are not graphic elements to be read on the side since they are so vital to the story itself.

A completely and wonderfully twisted fairytale, this graphic novel is sure to find fans thanks to its strong heroine and laugh-out-loud humor. Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Review: Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey by Alex Milway

| Tasha

pigsticks and harold

Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey by Alex Milway

Pigsticks hasn’t done anything with his life yet, unlike his very distinguished ancestors.  So he decides that he will travel to the Ends of the Earth but unlike his forepig, he will make it back alive.  Pigsticks quickly realizes that he will need an assistant, someone to carry all of his gear and cook.  Everyone in town came for an interview, but Pigsticks could not find the right person for the job.  That is until Harold the hamster showed up with a misdelivered package.  Harold wasn’t sure he wanted to be Harold’s assistant, but after much negotiation involving how many cakes would be brought on the journey (three of them) Harold agreed.  The two set off the next day, fording rivers, marching through jungles, crossing frail bridges across deep ravines, and then entering a vast desert before climbing an immense snowy mountain.  It’s a journey filled with mishaps and perils, most of which befall Harold, on their way to the elusive Ends of the Earth.

Milway has created a very clever early reader that will have new readers giggling right along.  Pigsticks is a wonderfully inattentive character, never noticing the various perils that Harold is facing along the way.  One might think be would come off very negatively, but he actually is a likeable character throughout, just a little self-absorbed.  Harold on the other hand is the voice of sanity on the trip, the one who sees danger ahead, but also the one doomed to not be listened to.  Their odd relationship works well in this book, creating very funny moments with just the right tone and humor for the age group.

Milway’s art is clever and cartoony.  He uses the art to fill in much of the story and provides art throughout at just the right amount to make the book appealing to new readers who are daunted by full-text pages.  The art adds to the zany humor of the text and further builds the dynamic between the two characters.

Funny, clever and cake-filled, this quest to the Ends of the Earth is sure to “end” up as a new reader favorite.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from digital copy received from Candlewick Press and NetGalley.