Skippyjon Jones

Brimming with hilarity and exuberance, this is the perfect read-aloud. Poor Skippyjon, the Siamese cat, can't quite decide what he is, and, after being sent off to his room to think about it, he gets to jumping on the bed. After one really enormous bounce he catches sight of himself in the mirror on the way down and decides he's a chihuahua. Now he's off on a sword-wielding adventure, leading a mysterious band of chihuahuas on a bandito-fighting, bean-rescuing face-off with the evil Bumblebeeto. Robert Ramirez superbly captures the spunk and merriment of this gem--to say nothing of getting deftly around the tongue-twisting Spanish-influenced rhymes. The same text is on Side B with page-turn signals, which make it perfect to accompany the book, also highly recommended for its charming and comic illustrations. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

May 16, 2005
The Siamese hero of this caper sleeps in a nest—with the birds—and is convinced that he's really a Chihuahua in disguise, and saves his pals from a giant Bumblebeeto Bandito. Ages 4-up.