From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 3–This four-part alphabet book will appeal to youngsters who like their stories more naughty than nice. The tale opens with Kitty learning that her owners have run out of cat food and that her only options are healthy and nutritious edibles that run the gamut from Asparagus to Zucchini. She reacts by doing an A-to-Z list of mischievous things, like claw[ing] the curtains and hurl[ing] hair balls at our heads. When her owners return with food that ranges from An Assortment of Anchovies to Baked Zebra Ziti, Kitty realizes she must atone for her bad behavior with a final list of alphabetical deeds such as cleaning the cat box and washing the car. Some actions and items are a bit of a stretch, in particular sQuashes for Q and rhUbarb for U. While the story is packed with colorful cartoon illustrations that introduce each object, it is Kitty who steals the show with her slyly drawn feline expressions. Intended for slightly older alphabet-book fans, this offering will attract readers with a taste for the ridiculous.–Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more From Booklist K-Gr. 2. Ostensibly about a cat that turns bad when her family runs out of her favorite food, this is really a clever alphabet book for kids old enough to appreciate the way words work. When a calm kitty overhears her owner say that healthy food is now on the menu, the high-energy artwork shows the cat in paroxysms of horror set against a series of blocks containing pictures of vegetables, alphabetically arranged from asparagus to zucchini. That's when Kitty decides to become Bad Kitty: she "ate my homework . . . hurled hair balls at our heads." Kitty changes again after her owner returns with an A-Z assortment of good, if peculiar, treats, some of which may give readers pause (a donkey named Dave). But Kitty is happy with them all, and to show her pleasure, she undoes all her bad actions--in alphabetical order. The cat, with seemingly dozens of expressions, is the star, but other aspects of the amusingly silly illustrations have equal weight. There's so much going on here that kids will find lots to laugh about. Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more See all Editorial Reviews
E**U
The "bites" out of the book are too cute!
My granddaughter loves this series and when this arrives for me to wrap I was surprised by the two "bites" taken out of the book (the bites are actually cut out and not black as shown in the picture). I no longer have the book to post my own picture... anyhow, I wrapped the book in white butcher paper and tied with a pretty bow. I then took an exacto knife and cut out the paper to match the "bit out" sections. Everyone at the party was in stitches, and my granddaughter anxious to see what was inside, as some critter had taken two bites out of her present. If you try this you will also need to wrap the book in a several layers of tissue paper before the butcher paper or the title will show through (and the tissue made the bites stand out). The "bites" don't show very well with patterned paper, but any solid should do.
B**N
Love it!
My preschool aged girls love this book! Its very well written and illustrated beautifully. They love the bite taken our of the corner.
H**E
Cats
Bad Kitty wasn't always a bad kitty, in fact she used to be a good kitty, until the day there was no kitty food in the house, only 'healthy' food. Bad Kitty then proceeds to destroy the house to show her displeasure. Once appropriate food is provided, Bad Kitty becomes good once more, although the reward she receives for her good behavior implies that her good behavior is not going to last. The following books contain the same sort of humor. Interestingly several of the follow-up titles are chapter book length.The author manages to insert ABC lists four times into Bad Kitty, which is quite an accomplishment in and of itself, but he also keeps the story moving forward to hold childrens' interest. I have shared this book with my kindergartners and they enjoyed it greatly. The colorful illustrations and design provide a nice complement to the wacky parts of the book. Recommended.
P**A
Alphabet book with attitude
I found this at the library the other day and took it out for my kids - when we finally got around to reading it we had to keep it longer - the boys wanted to read it every night, take it to church, take it to school...Basically this is a quadruple alphabet book - it goes through alphabetical lists of the foods Kitty doesn't like, the myriad of ways in which she was bad, the foods her owner bought to placate her, and the many reparations Kitty then made for her badness.The illustrations are charming (I especially like the little fang kitty develops when she becomes bad), and the need to use the whole alphabet results in a broader vocabulary than is found in most children's books. It is wonderful for reading aloud (especially when the boys provide Kitty's sounds effects, e.g. "hack, hack!"), and the opportunities to point out someone else's outrageously bad behavior are very welcome to my pair of naughty small fry.I think this book could be enjoyed by kids of almost any age, as with "The Stinky Cheese Man," which I started to read to my eldest at age 2; kids can enjoy quite sophisticated humor given a little background information, and they really like being "in" on jokes and sharing knowing smiles. My 6-year-old is a beginning reader and can use it to sharpen his decoding skills while laughing out loud.The only reservation I have is that it does present as "yucky" several of the foods I try to feed my family...Still, I am adding it to my shopping cart today; as noted by other readers, it is a charming gift, and I really should pass one on to my brothers (for their kids, yeah, that's the ticket)...
K**S
Cute, engaging story
This book is great! It’s cute and funny, has so many unusual words and silly situations that it has become a fast favorite here. My 4yo asks for it at story time on the regular and I’m not tired of it yet. Highly recommended!
S**E
Oh, so Bad!
This is a very funny book and the repetitive use of the alphabet is endearing. It is a bit of a read, so not ideal for bedtime, but it is a good way to get your child to think outside of the box at all of the words that the letters of the alphabet comprise.
L**S
"Bad Kitty" rules the roost!
"Bad Kitty" has an attitude problem. He's the original Grumpy Cat, Garfield at his snarkiest, the morality of an alley cat, part feral and part foolish. He acts awful just because. And he's funny, very funny. Read with authority and arrogance, pre-readers love him. He's everybody's rotten inner child come out of the closet to express his displeasure with the world. Pair the book with the "Bad Kitty" stuffed toy and it's the perfect gift.
S**H
Bad Kitty is one of my very favorites
Bad Kitty is one of my very favorites! I love Nick Bruel's sense of humor. I've read this numerous times over the past couple of years to the first grade students who pass through the reading and spelling tutoring I do at a local school. I'm thrilled to have this book especially with the "bites" out of the cover. This will be a huge hit for my great grandsons!
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