Two Cats in a dog suit. What's not to love?

Boothby, I & Matsumoto,N (2018) Sparks!. New York, NY: Scholastic

Sparks is the moniker given by a TV reporter to a mysterious heroic dog that goes around saving people.  Little does she know that the “dog” is actually two cats driving a mechanical dog suit!  What’s more, the reason people keep having to be saved is because of an alien disguised as a baby trying to take over the world!  Can two smarter-than-the-average cats and their sentient litter box possibly win the day?

        They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but the cover absolutely got me hooked.  What’s not to love about two cats driving a dog suit?  The art is colorful and attractive, and the action easy to follow.  The story is hilarious yet compelling.  I laughed out loud several times, and felt a bit sad or concerned at others.  The two main characters have this great dichotomy of one being outgoing but a bit stupid, and the other being intelligent but introverted, and they both grow as people (cats) by the end to appreciate each other more.  I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who likes action, comedy, and cats.

Chabot, J (2016) Marvel “Tsum Tsum” Takeover!. New York, NY: Marvel Worldwide

When a space trucker gets impatient and barrels through a cordoned off area, he loses some of his cargo. The cargo goes hurtling towards earth, landing with a crash on top of the building where Dunk, Bert, and Holly are gathered in their super hero club meeting.  When they open it they discover several cute little round creatures.  The creatures, called Tsum Tsum, soon morph into cute versions of the avengers and their enemies.  Between the Tsum Tsum causing havoc and Ultron on the loose, lots of crazy antics and action soon follow.

Disney Tsum Tsum toys really find their place in the Marvel universe with this book.  The creators do a good job of creating an original story that brings together the Tsum Tsum with the established characters of the Avengers.  The cute antics of the Tsum Tsum somehow meld quite well with the heroics of the other characters creating a very fun read.

Holm, J. L & Holm, M. (2006) Babymouse: Rock Star. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books

Babymouse dreams of being a rock star.  Unfortunately she’s not a very good musician.  Between dealing with the resident bully, Felicia Furrypaws, and spacing out into her exuberant imagination, she isn’t making much headway.  With a classmates help, she might just be able to improve before the big school concert.

Babymouse appears in a series of graphic novels in which this is the 4^th. By the wear on my library’s book, I can tell it’s pretty popular too.   It is easy to read, and the layout is easy to follow.  Babymouse’s imagination and spunky attitude will appeal to young readers.