Guinea Pigs Online

October 14, 2013
This series launch stars two irresistible guinea pigs friends who share a cage but don't always "see eye to eye, or even whisker to whisker." Go-getter Fuzzy is an aspiring chef, but his attempt to cook for his owners (egg, ketchup, garlic, and dishwashing soap in a blender) backfires comically. Meanwhile, Coco laments the loss of her former harp-playing, queen-hobnobbing life ("One does miss Buckingham Palace"). Fuzzy disappears after reading a newspaper ad announcing that a new London restaurant is looking for guinea pigs. When Coco discovers (via Fuzzy's "Micespace" page) that other guinea pigs have also gone missing and that the eatery is serving "groundbreaking" fare, she's determined to rescue her friend before he lands on the menu. Adding to the mayhem is a Peruvian guinea pig "freedom fighter" who joins Coco's mission, which Gray and Swift bring to a rowdy close. A generous smattering of picturesâHorne's (You Get What You Get) hilarious halftones carry a whiff of Quentin Blakeâand a large font help make this a very accessible read. Ages 5â8.

September 15, 2013
Fuzzy and Coco, two very different guinea pigs, are very good friends. Fuzzy and Coco live in London with Ben and Henrietta Bliss, an animal-rescue worker and a veterinarian, respectively. Fuzzy loves to cook (though he's bad at it), and Coco loves to talk about her relationship with the queen (no one believes her, but her origins are murky). When Fuzzy's celebrity-chef idol, Scarlet Cleaver, opens a new restaurant nearby and advertises for guinea pigs, Fuzzy scampers out the cat flap despite Coco's warnings. Coco turns to the Internet to find the restaurant. What she and new friend Eduardo find is terrifying-ish. Can they save Fuzzy? And does Coco really know the queen? Gray and Swift's occasionally smile-inducing series debut may disturb its target audience stateside, who likely do not know guinea pigs are eaten elsewhere in the world. Several events played for laughs (an encounter with a fox posing as a guinea pig online, serving the queen a live guinea pig because there's no time to cook it) are unfunny head-scratchers. Horne's black-and-white illustrations are delightfully goofy if occasionally misplaced, but they and an associated website listing with some activities, recipes and Internet safety tips just don't make this worthwhile. Vast libraries of humorous animal fantasies available both locally and from across the pond make this an easy title to ignore. (Humor. 7-10)

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