Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 12/09/2022 PreS-Gr 2—Everyone's favorite tyrannosaurs, Penelope Rex, is back for her third outing. Having learned not to eat her classmates and how to rock the talent show, this latest adventure sees Penelope taking her turn to host the class pet, Walter the goldfish, at home. Even though she is the only dinosaur in school, Penelope has big feelings just like her classmates. There are a number of things that make Penelope feel scared, with Walter chief among them. When it is finally Penelope's turn to take the goldfish home, all she can see are his menacing fins, unblinky eyes, and bitey teeth. However, when Walter goes missing, Penelope summons all her courage and, in the process, discovers that maybe Walter isn't so bad after all. As in previous titles, Higgins employs comical dialogue, impeccable pacing, a surprise ending, and a superb message of support to young readers that validates their feelings and offers encouragement to confront what frightens them. Pair with Is This Your Class Pet? by Troy Cummings for double the class pet fun. VERDICT Another hugely successful outing with Penelope and highly recommended for purchase.—Olivia Gorecke - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 02/01/2023 Grade-school dino Penelope Rex (introduced in We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, 2018) learns to face her fears—especially her fear of staring, “bitey” class goldfish Walter—in this latest outing. Penelope really, really doesn’t want to take Walter home for the weekend, and indeed, when her turn rolls around at last, it gets off to a terrifying start (how did he manage to move his bowl right next to her bed in the night?). Fortunately, it only takes his temporary disappearance for her to realize that she misses him, and after he turns up in Daddy Rex’s keeping, she finds him to be a fine, if silent and rather unresponsive, playmate. Her feeling of relief even prompts her to step on sidewalk cracks without fretting about her mother’s spine—though coping with the alarming new pet with which her proud parents present her in Higgins’ hilarious closing twist is a horse (or, to be more exact, a big cat) of a different color. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.

Booklist - 02/15/2023 Grade-school dino Penelope Rex (introduced in We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, 2018) learns to face her fears—especially her fear of staring, “bitey” class goldfish Walter—in this latest outing. Penelope really, really doesn’t want to take Walter home for the weekend, and indeed, when her turn rolls around at last, it gets off to a terrifying start (how did he manage to move his bowl right next to her bed in the night?). Fortunately, it only takes his temporary disappearance for her to realize that she misses him, and after he turns up in Daddy Rex’s keeping, she finds him to be a fine, if silent and rather unresponsive, playmate. Her feeling of relief even prompts her to step on sidewalk cracks without fretting about her mother’s spine—though coping with the alarming new pet with which her proud parents present her in Higgins’ hilarious closing twist is a horse (or, to be more exact, a big cat) of a different color. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.