December 18, 2023
Dyckman (Don’t Blow Your Top!) and Teague (King Kong’s Cousin) empathically kick off a picture book series about saucer-eyed, sweetly goofy Bat, bibliophile Cat, and jokester Rat, who together move into the dormer-windowed house of the title. Sculptural acrylic paintings show the characters blossoming as both vivid personalities and visual presences in the shared home. Across the chapters, the trio discovers that ostensibly simple declarative expressions—“Sharing is nice!”; “Joking is fun!”; “Reading is THE BEST!”—reveal a range of individual experiences and expectations. In the first story, the characters’ dibs-calling has the potential to create a domestic conundrum. The second explores whether all forms of humor are amusing for all. And in the third, Cat’s frustration with Bat and Rat’s peering at her book reveals that neither pal can read, resulting in a successful collaborative effort. Subtly but effectively, the book’s veteran creators show that mutual understanding is worth working for, even when it requires ceding some of one’s own assumptions. Ages up to 8. Author’s agent: Scott Treimel, Scott Treimel NY.
January 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 2 Book one in the Bat, Cat & Rat series introduces the three protagonists as they move into a house together. Approaching their new home, they agree, "Sharing is nice." But when they're inside, Cat immediately claims the upstairs. Rat claims the downstairs. Graciously, Bat takes the room under the stairs, calling it "the best of all." In the second story, ""Joking,"" Rat repeatedly teases Cat with this toy, a rubber spider suspended from a stick. After Cat bellows, "Not funny," Bat comes to the rescue, telling Rat that he loves spiders. But when Rat dangles the toy in front of him, Bat pretends to eat it. "Not funny," complains Rat, to Cat's satisfaction. In the third story, "Reading," two characters start learning to read. The "half" fourth story, "Sleeping," is a soporific charmer. The illustrator of Jane Yolen's How Do Dinosaurs . . . ? series, Teague creates three lively characters in a variety of engaging scenes. Equally effective as an inviting beginning-reader book or a read-aloud choice for younger children, this volume features friendship among three well-defined characters, along with humor that kids will enjoy.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
January 15, 2024
Odd housemates adjust to extremely cramped real estate. Moving into a two-room house, Bat, Cat, and Rat agree that "sharing is nice" but immediately claim their own space. Cat takes the upstairs room, while Rat opts for the one downstairs, leaving only the under-stair closet (shades of Harry Potter) for Bat. When Bat happily exclaims that "UNDER the stairs is THE BEST!" the friends look skeptical--until they see Bat hanging upside down in the cavelike space. In the second story, practical jokester Rat scares Cat with a rubber spider. Bat pretends to eat it, scaring Rat. Alone, Bat repeats Rat's dubious claim: "Joking is fun!" The third story finds Cat cozily settled in a chair with a book. When Cat accuses Rat and Bat of trying to sneak peeks, they admit shamefacedly that they can't yet read. So they share the chair and "read their very first word: 'HAT!'" It turns out that "reading together is the BEST EVER." In the underwhelming final entry (referred to as "story #3-and-a-half"), for unclear reasons, all three cram into the bare closet to sleep; it doesn't look at all cozy. The larger-than-life, upright, anthropomorphic animals are set mostly against plain backgrounds; they're personable rather than cute. The simple language is ideal for burgeoning readers, though the jokes are rather one-note. Easy-to-read stories that strain to be amusing. (Easy reader/picture book. 2-6)
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 1, 2024
These delightful, very brief stories entertainingly touch on the joys and complexities of friendship. In chapter one, Bat, Cat, and Rat move into a new house together. Each character is distinct: Cat is serious, Rat is mischievous, and Bat is clever. Cat takes the upstairs and pulls books from a suitcase. Rat gets the downstairs and unpacks a satchel of joke props. When Bat declares, "UNDER the stairs is THE BEST!" the friends all end up hanging out in Bat's snug closet. In the second chapter, Rat plays a joke, scaring Cat with a rubber spider. But Bat turns the tables and plays an even bigger joke on Rat. Using only a handful of basic words and repetition, Dyckman creates an inventive, warm text filled with humor. Teague magnifies that humor even further with his trademark cartoonlike drawings rendered in acrylics. The big, bold illustrations capture expressions of joy, anger, contentment, and camaraderie. Young readers will enjoy the stories and discover that a home with friends, even with its ups and downs, is a cozy place to be. Joan Yolleck
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from July 26, 2024
PreS-Gr 2-In three-and-a-half chapters, Dyckman and Teague use sentences and images that could be right out of a McGuffey Reader: "Bat, Cat, and Rat found a cozy home to share. 'Sharing is nice!' said Bat. 'It is, ' said Cat. 'It is, ' said Rat." For emerging readers, this is a fantastic start with lots of great reinforcement, and it just gets better. With similar sentence structures, the stories include one about their move into a house and picking rooms, another about practical jokes, and a third that takes on reading. Across the board, the book delivers on the "cozy" of the title. Cat and Rat are silly but Bat is the outlier, happy about everything, making the most of opportunities, and falling asleep under the stairs in the last "half" chapter. Teague scales back his style to simple shapes on clean white backgrounds, illustrating the occasional interior for snugness, and then offers wildly expressive facial reactions to help nudge context across. This is a charming early reader, a reminder of how mastery of the format invites children in not with vocabulary, but with story and meaning. VERDICT What a gift to reading, with one particular refrain acting as the recommendation: "Sharing is nice."-Ginnie Abbott
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2024
These delightful, very brief stories entertainingly touch on the joys and complexities of friendship. In chapter one, Bat, Cat, and Rat move into a new house together. Each character is distinct: Cat is serious, Rat is mischievous, and Bat is clever. Cat takes the upstairs and pulls books from a suitcase. Rat gets the downstairs and unpacks a satchel of joke props. When Bat declares, "UNDER the stairs is THE BEST!" the friends all end up hanging out in Bat's snug closet. In the second chapter, Rat plays a joke, scaring Cat with a rubber spider. But Bat turns the tables and plays an even bigger joke on Rat. Using only a handful of basic words and repetition, Dyckman creates an inventive, warm text filled with humor. Teague magnifies that humor even further with his trademark cartoonlike drawings rendered in acrylics. The big, bold illustrations capture expressions of joy, anger, contentment, and camaraderie. Young readers will enjoy the stories and discover that a home with friends, even with its ups and downs, is a cozy place to be.
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)