Ottoline and the Yellow Cat

I read Ottoline and the Yellow Cat with W (R read it alone). The pictures are fabulous, the tone is cheeky, and while the story doesn't quite match these heights it tags along well enough. W wasn't enamoured, nor did he want to abandon it. My working hypothesis is he's drawn to comics and laugh-out-loud funny stories, which this wasn't. (And by laugh-out-loud, it may well be more about me laughing while reading, than something making him laugh.) Need to test with some other books.

I liked the tongue-in-cheek reference to C.M. Coolidge's various Dogs Playing Poker paintings. Apparently these were commissioned to sell cigars to a working class public. Of course they were.

I think this would be a great book to share with 5 to 7 year olds. The illustrations are fun and clever (did you notice how Ottoline is always wearing two different shoes?) and the story is engaging (a series of burglaries are curiously connected with a group of missing lapdogs). I can definitely see the comparisons to [b:Eloise|782854|Eloise (Eloise Series)|Kay Thompson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178302634s/782854.jpg|768864].

I enjoyed how interactive the text was, as if the author anticipated the questions that might come up when reading and tried to point the reader to the answer. There were also some great jokes, like the bear who lives in the laundry room and steals single socks.

Highly recommended. First book in a series.

I loved this quick clever little book! I'm a big fan of illustrated/semi-graphic novels like this one. The black and white (with a single hint of red in each) pencil drawings were fun to look at, along with the explanatory text boxes. I can't wait to read the rest of the mysteries in this series.

Another one of those stories where a precocious child with absent parents goes off and does something. However this story has talking animals, setting it firmly in the world of fantasy and so the other unbelievable elements (wise & competent child, absent parents) can be forgiven.

Special nod to the illustrations, which were lovely.

Ottoline lives in a big city apartment with Mr Munroe, looking after her parents collections while they're off on their travels. Being a feisty young thing, a spate of dog-nappings catches her eye and she's off detecting.
There are slight surreal touches, and lots of humour - rather Lemony Snicket like without the sadness of being an orphan. This is super story for confident young readers of around 7yrs, but the joy of this book is in the super illustrations, black and white pen drawings that are full of quirky details and little annotations, enlivened by small splashes of red. It was the illustrations that attracted me to buy the book for my daughter - she adores them too, but is itching to get the colouring pencils out to finish the job!

Riddell is the illustrator half of the duo who created The Edge Chronicles and Far Flung Adventures. I love the quirky characters (e.g. Mr. Monroe, Ottoline's caretaker when her parents travel, is a hairy Cousin It-type creature rescued from a Norwegian bog), double-take illustrations (eg the dining room lights change in every scene), and a funny story with snarky references that reminded me a bit of Lemony Snicket. Black & white illustrations with a few touches of red reminded me of Olivia books. Loved it; going to request that we add the series to our collection. Transitional, with more illustration than text. Will recommend to readers who like Cam Jansen, Mercy Watson, and others, and reluctant readers.

This book was really fun, and Chris Riddell's illustrations throughout are great. It's a fun mystery for kids who like adventure stories and quirky characters, such as Mr. Munroe.