[READ: May 20, 2023] Katie and the Catsitter: Secrets and Sidekicks
I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by Colleen AF Venable. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was excited for the second. But apparently I missed it completely, because when I was reading this, I didn’t really know who all the characters were-or what their past together was.
Despite that, I was still able to fully enjoy this story and am looking forward to reading Book 2 to fill in the gaps.
Once again the artwork is by Stephanie Yue who also drew her Guinea P.I. books and it is a perfect match.
In this story Katie has been fully deputized by The Mousestress although her mother (who works nights) had no idea what she gets up to.
(Beth was the girl that Katie was best friends with until camp tore them apart in Book 1. It’s nice they’re back together) would love to train with Katie and Mousestress. But Mousetress wants her to be older (or have her mother’s permission) before she does any training. Even though she is the same age as Katie–but Katie’s mother says it’s okay (except she doesn’t actually know). Ironically, Beth’s mother is super hero Stainless Steel (the revelation to Beth’s father is pretty darn funny).
They have a mutual friend Jess (who I didn’t recognize). She is dating the son of the CEP of Buttersoft Bionics, a company whom the Mousestress believes is up to seriously no good.
Apparently The Eastern Screech (aka Owl Guy) has escaped from jail and that is taking up much TV news time. A photo on the screen shows that Mr. B (their beloved bodega owner downstairs) has a brother Benito and he looks exactly like Owl Guy (at least according to Katie–no one else can see it). (more…)
I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by Colleen AF Venable. This is her first middle grade graphic novel. And it is fantastic.
So much fun and so much going on!
The artwork is by Stephanie Yue who also drew her Guinea P.I. books and it is a perfect match.
In this story Katie is a little bummed because her friends are going off to summer camp and she can’t afford to go. She puts up a sign in her apartment offering her services, but she finds that she’s really not very good at anything (she can’t lift heavy groceries, she kills plants). Finally, she asks if she can work for the bodega owner downstairs. He loves Katie, but she is too young. He offers her a consolation lunch of “baby kale, blue cheese, craisins… those are basically candy.” But all she wants is a PBnJ.
It’s all pretty normal.
Except that in this world there are superheroes and super villains. The most famous superhero right now is The Eastern Screech, a guy whop dresses like an owl. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: THE OKEE DOKEE BROTHERS-“Lucy and Tighty” (2010).
Even though the Okee Dokee Brothers are primarily about getting outdoors, not all of their songs fall into that category. Like this one, which is a cute song about two people who are very different but who still like each other (and fall in love). See the chorus:
‘Cause opposites attract, opposites attract
In the end baby, opposites attract
But what attracted me to the song was the fun (and perhaps easy rhyme scheme) of the verses. I loved the way the first verse started
Lefty Lucy loved to lolly lackadaisically
But Righty Tighty went By the book alphabetically
So when Lefty Lucy loosened up unapologetically
Righty Tighty tightened up rather introvertedly
Musically, the beats are simple and pronounced, and while the songs starts simply, with just guitar and banjo (and drums, of course), it builds through each verse and chorus, complete with backing vocals. I loved the fun of the names “Lucy and Tighty” (which may be immediately obvious or may not) and the wordplay in the second verse two.
On the dance floor, they were known for
Having moves that expressed themselves aesthetically
Lucy was groovy, dancing to a different drummer energetically
Tighty politely followed the right steps predictably
Solo, they were so-so, but together they’d be better exponentially
And if all this weren’t fun enough, the video is also fun, done with mirrors (which you can see in the background), it makes me wonder if they are leaning in the right direction or not. The song even ends up with a fun New Orleans style stomp at the end. This will help get your kids into the Avett Brothers for sure.
[READ: April 2014] Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye #5
After raving about the first four books in the Guinea PIg series, we received a huge surprise when Colleen AF Venable sent us a copy of Book #5 with an autograph and an inscription and everything. And I can’t believe that I forgot to write about it! So here it is two years later (!) and Book 6 is already out and I’m only writing about book 5. Shame. On. Me.
So I re-read the book recently and decided it was about time I showed Colleen Af Venable a little more love. Because even if she hadn’t sent us this cool book, it would still be hilarious.
As this one opens, recent pet shop hire Viola is trying to teach Mr Venezi the pet shop owner, the names of the animals (he’s hilariously awful at it–he calls the hamster a mini koala, a short ferret and a tiny dragon). Viola is very good with the animals and plans to buy a few of them to bring home (so she can dress them up even more, which they secretly love).
Hamisher (the hamster) and our star Guinea Pig, Sasspants (the best name for a character, ever) are talking about what kind of owners they might want. Hamisher hopes that their owners will live in the same state so that maybe they can see each other still. They talk about the kind of owner they’d want (their standards are very high). Then Hamisher notices he is standing on a cat. Charlotte (the owner of the store next door) has a cat (whose name is Tummytickles) which sleeps in their window. A lot. Sasspants explains that Tummytickles is a heavy, heavy sleeper. Tummtickles wakes up enough to say that that’s not his real name but falls asleep before he can ever say what it is.
We focus on Tuimmytickles because he is the main crisis in this story–he has gone missing! Which is pretty impressive for a cat who barely moves an inch in a week. How will Sasspants and Hamisher find him? Especially when…Sasspants has just been purchased! (more…)
There’s something about kid’s music. It’s simple, typically, and it can be either cloying or fun. But it’s a really fine line that stands between the two. Ralph Covert of Ralph’s World manages to keep the line in view and stays on the fun side. Ralph has a rock history (with The Bad Examples) but I think his kids music is much better and much more interesting.
“Red Banana” is a simple folk song with a wonderfully catchy chorus (“What am I gonna do if my mom finds out?”). The verses are fun as well. “Who ever heard of a red banana? Have you ever heard of a red banana? I’ve never heard of a red banana.” “Who ever heard of a green gorilla?” (Who is eating the red banana, of course.)
Ralph knows silly, and he knows how to make silly catchy. This whole Ralph’s World album, Green Gorilla Monster & Me is a lot of fun.
[READ: December 2010] Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye
My kids love books (surprise). And Clark has been reading a lot by himself. So I’ve been getting him some graphic novels for his reading pleasure. I stumbled upon this series at the library. It’s a little too much for him to read by himself–he read it but I know he didn’t get all of what is going on. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the first book very much and when I learned there were four more I was thrilled!
This series is clever and funny. And while the kids may not get all the jokes, I sure do, and I think they’re really funny. And, there are more than enough jokes (visual and verbal) for them to enjoy and for me to enjoy reading to them.
There’s a Guinea Pig (with the best name–Sasspants) who lives in a pet store. The pet store is owned by Mr Venezi, the most incompetent pet store owner (and business owner, frankly) ever. Mr Venezi loves his animals but not only does he not know how to take care of them, he doesn’t even know what most of them are called. Their tanks are mislabeled and often times animals are simply in the wrong places. Obviously in real life this would be a disaster, but these animals are funny and clever and roll with the problems quite easily.
In the first book, the hamster named Hamisher reads the sign for Sasspants’ tank which says Guinea PI. Naturally Hamisher thinks that Sasspants is a detective. The story behind this name change is quite funny. Sasspants seems to be the only animal with not only the correct name but also a name made out of sticky tiles rather than tape (one assumes this is because Sasspants is very smart and an extensive reader (as well as writer, rappeller and, eventually sleuth)). When the G from Guinea Pi”g” falls off and goes missing, well, it’s time for our reluctant Guinea Pig to get to sleuthing.
There are currently four books in the series and I can only hope that more are on the way soon! All of the illustrations are by Stephanie Yue. And they are wonderful (it is odd since Venable is a wonderful artist that she uses someone else, but hey, spread the wealth!) (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
I Just Read About That... 