Aloha!

February 14, 2011
In the main story line of Kredensor's debut, cartoon cat Ollie offers a surprise to his friend Moon. With mounting excitement, she asks questions and collects clues that accumulate throughout the pages. "So my surprise is... ROUND and MUSICAL, it has LOTS OF COLORS, it has FUR, HOOVES, and FEATHERS, and it's BRIGHT with LIGHTS!" (Spoiler: it's a carousel ride.) It's an oddly unfocused work; it feels like the second volume of a series whose first volume has gone missing. Kredensor's drawings of the two goggle-eyed cats are shown against Kress's photographs of Paris, where the duo lives, and French vocabulary is sprinkled throughout ("Ollie's stomach was growling, so they stopped at the fromagerie to buy some Brie"). Laughs are thrown in whether they advance the story or not; on the title page, a Paris toilet is the vehicle for some light bathroom humor, as Ollie emerges with paper stuck to his paw; elsewhere, he surprises Moon in another bathroom. It's entertainment, but not the stuff memories are made of—despite the Parisian setting. Ages 3–6.

July 1, 2013

K-Gr 2-Felines Ollie and Moon are best friends. Moon likes to play games she's familiar with, but Ollie enjoys trying new things. In a game of dare, he challenges her to "wear a dozen leis all at once!" and she dares him to stand at the side of the road wearing a sign that says, "Honk If I'm Cute!" Ollie is the more enthusiastic of the pair and he never loses heart; he even helps Moon complete her final dare when he realizes that she is afraid to bodysurf in the ocean. The story is told in comic-book format with large panels and dialogue bubbles. The type is easy to read and surrounded by plenty of white space. The boldly colored artwork combines illustration and photographs. This book could serve as an introduction to comic books or simply as a fun alternative to traditional beginning readers.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

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