Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 02/01/2010 PreS-K— Using a repetitive vocabulary with few new words added in, Willems offers successful reading experiences for the earliest readers, complete with fun-loving, friendly characters and surprise story lines. In the first book, Cat the Cat meets her friends as she answers the oft-repeated question, "Cat the Cat, who is that?" with "It's Mouse the Mouse!" Questions and answers are in large, bold type while white word balloons with a clear, dark font are used effectively to further the simple conversation. Cat the Cat continues on as she meets Duck the Duck, Fish the Fish, and a strange-looking alien who, after scaring her at first, becomes her new friend. In Let's Say Hi , Cat the Cat asks Bee the Bee, Bird the Bird, and Bat the Bat if they can fly. They all answer "watch me" as they fly away. The story takes a surprise turn as the friends ask Rhino the Rhino if he can fly, and he takes off in his airplane, taking them with him. The animals are drawn with expressions ranging from wide-eyed innocence to surprise as they learn about the world around them. Drawn on a mostly uncluttered sky-blue background with thick black lines, the characters are illustrated in a brighter and wider range of colors than in Willems's previous works. Fans of "Elephant and Piggie" (Hyperion) may think themselves to be a bit advanced for this newest cast of characters, but they will want to join in on these latest adventures where even Pigeon makes subtle appearances.—Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/15/2010 Along with Let’s Say Hi to Friends Who Fly (2010), this upbeat title introduces young children to a new cast of animal pals. In large, bold type well-suited for brand-new readers, a narrator asks the title’s question as winsome Cat the Cat, in a sporty purple dress, says hello to her friends, whose greetings, printed in speech balloons, give a little glimpse into each new character’s personality. Mouse the Mouse is straightforward (“Hello there!”), Duck the Duck is a bit formal (“A pleasure, as always!”), and Fish the Fish is surfer-cool (“Hey, dude!”). Then Cat the Cat runs into a many-armed alien, who is busily building a tower of blocks, and the text’s easy, back-and-forth rhythm screeches to a halt: “Cat the Cat, who is THAT?” asks the narrator. “I have no idea,” is Cat’s wary answer, until she recognizes the adorable stranger as “a NEW friend!” Once again, Willems avoids heavy messages and walks right into kids’ daily lives with this exuberant, clean-lined, animation-ready title that’s sure to widen his already vast fan base. - Copyright 2010 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 05/01/2010 Into his teeming menagerie that already encompasses Knuffle Bunny, Pigeon, Elephant and Piggy, and their legion of sidekicks, Willems now introduces Cat the Cat and her buddies. The debut title, Cat the Cat, functions pretty narrowly as a get-acquainted session, as the purple-frocked feline meeting each new critter by answering the narrator’s query of “Cat the Cat, who is that?” with a name patterned after her own-Mouse the Mouse, Duck the Duck, Fish the Fish. Audience prediction breaks down, though, at the encounter with a multi-limbed, stalk-eyed alien who responds, “Blurggie! Blurggie!” Sorry, kiddies, but it’s not Blurggie the Blurggie, but simply and rather disappointingly “a NEW friend!” The clever quotient rises a level in the second title, Let’s Say Hi. Again, Willems supplies a pattern: “‘Can you fly, Bee the Bee?’ ‘Watch me!’” A bird and bat nimbly follow suit, but Rhino the Rhino seems less promising until he takes off in a plane. Vocabulary is consistently easier in Let’s Say Hi, with monosyllables and sight words all around, and none of Cat the Cat’s adult-dependent twists like “pleasure” and “blurggie” to confound neophytes. Both, however, deliver the perennial amusement of Willems’ heavily outlined, friendly, slightly naïve animals and-for joy!-hidden pigeons. Emergent readers and their phonics teachers will applaud this new launch. EB - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.