The Fintastic Fishsitter

December 15, 2015
Fishsitting a zombie is hard enough...a vampire kitten can make it nigh impossible. Tom and Pradeep share the care of zombie goldfish Frankie, who has hypnotic eyes. When they leave Frankie in the care of Sami, Pradeep's little sister, they also leave a detailed list of instructions, with a special emphasis on keeping Frankie safe from Fang, Tom's older brother's vampire kitten. Sami takes her job seriously, but vampire kittens are extremely sneaky. Fang catches Frankie and uses the power of "kitty cuteness" to mesmerize Sami into kittysitting as well as fishsitting. When the "games" Fang and Frankie dream up to play threaten to squash, splash, or zombify each other, Sami forces the dueling duo to play her game...which is highly embarrassing to both. U.K. author O'Hara's first fish tale for a younger audience based on her series of illustrated chapter books will be beneath the notice of Frankie's existing fans and doesn't offer more than a retread of Tom & Jerry to hook newbies. It's unclear why embarrassing the duo makes them "get along" (for a moment), but the boys reward Sami for doing a good job. Jagucki's rounded, bright cartoon illustrations are active, attractive, and fun; but they don't much enliven the humdrum story. This fish tale falls flat. (Picture book. 3-7)

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March 1, 2016

K-Gr 3-Based on O'Hara's chapter book series, this slight picture book spin-off might have a tricky time finding an audience. Tom and his best friend Pradeep are proud owners of a "big fat zombie goldfish" named Frankie. When Pradeep's little sister Sami fills in as a fishsitter, she is given a long list of instructions to follow, the most important one being to keep Frankie away from Fang, a vampire kitten. Sami takes her job seriously and draws up blueprints for a "Fishy Protection Zone," complete with booby traps and a wading pool watchtower. Despite the little girl's best precautions, Fang uses his potent power of "kitty cuteness" to convince Sami to allow them to all play together. In Jagucki's brightly colored digitally created illustrations, the action unfolds like an animated cartoon, with plenty of archenemy high jinks, such as water hose attacks, tennis ball takedowns, and basketball head bounces. After much flying of fur and fins, Sami regains control and dresses the pets up in frilly bonnets and puts them in a baby carriage together. Tom and Pradeep return to thank Sami for her efforts with an ice cream treat, while Frankie and Fang tussle some more. VERDICT An additional purchase.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

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