Leeza Hernandez

I was skimming through a giant stack of picture books when this one popped out and thwapped me in the eyes. It's nothing fancy or new, but it's a solid, great book.

The text is extremely simple, just a rhyming couplet split across each spread; "Kitty cat, pretty cat./Living in the city cat." A curious cat accidentally stows away in a truck and is carried off. She escapes, but is hurt and taken to the pound. Luckily, her owner shows up and soon she's back home and safe again.

This is a perfect show more text for a toddler; bold, rhyming, simple, and with a strong narrative as well as textual rhythm. Small children will be very pleased with the simple progression of the story and satisfied at the happy conclusion.

The illustrations show a plump grey cat with a blue bow on her tail. They're separated into full-page spreads and smaller inset panels and illustrations. They're colorful without being garish and have a warm, friendly style that will be very accessible to young children and their parents. Even nicer, the cat's owner has dark skin and exuberantly curly hair, the girl who finds the lost cat also has dark, curly hair but lighter skin, while the third person pictured at the shelter has long blond hair. Diversity naturally and realistically portrayed in a fun story about a favorite animal.

Verdict: This is a perfect book for toddlers - and the author has an earlier book called Doggone as well! Highly recommended for your toddlers and their storytimes.

ISBN: 9780399164385; Published 2014 by G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less

Accompanying his family to an outdoor concert, a young boys falls asleep during the performance, and dreams that the animals from the nearby zoo break out of their cages, storm the stage, and take over the musicians' roles. His younger sister wakes him as the family is leaving, and the boy realizes that the madcap scenes he has been witnessing were part of his dream. Or were they...?

Although actor and children's author John Lithgow has released quite a few picture-books at this point, many show more of them quite well-received, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo is the first I have happened to pick up. I'm glad I did, as I found it quite enjoyable, with a rollicking, rhyming text that would make for an excellent read-aloud, and colorful, entertaining illustrations. The book comes with a CD of Lithgow performing the song whose words make up the text, and although I was not able to listen to the song, I would imagine it can only enhance the experience. Recommended to anyone looking for fun picture-books with rhyming text and a musical theme. show less

Cute art, but I didn't care for the text so much. I feel like I've seen too many books recently with the same sort of text. But little kids will probably not be put off by that kind of familiarity.

Library copy

Strays help a runaway pooch find his way home. Good story for toddlers.