Publishers Weekly
With the alphabet as his jumping off point, Bruel (Boing!) recounts just how far things can go awry when cats go bad. After Kitty discovers that the only food in the house consists of 26 kinds of vegetables (asparagus, beets, cauliflower and on through zucchini), her mood turns blacker than her scraggly fur coat. She unleashes her own alphabet of woe that will have youngsters howling with laughter (and cat owners young and old will understand that many of these scenarios do not require a total suspension of disbelief). Bruel chronicles the misbehavior by dividing the spreads into eight strips, each containing a kind of visual one-liner devoted to a single letter. "She... Quarreled with our neighbors," the author writes, as Kitty watches through the mail slot while a human holds a note that reads, "Meow Hiss Hiss...!" The furry protagonist even "Sold my toys" (Kitty seems to have appropriated her unseen owner's lemonade stand for this purpose). But when the humans restock the larder with cat-friendly food (rhino ravioli, shark sushi, etc.), the feline turns over a new leaf-in alphabetical fashion, of course. Even readers who've mastered their ABCs will laugh at Bruel's gleefully composed litanies and the can-you-top-this spirit that animates every page. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-This four-part alphabet book will appeal to youngsters who like their stories more naughty than nice. The tale opens with Kitty learning that her owners have run out of cat food and that her only options are healthy and nutritious edibles that run the gamut from "Asparagus" to "Zucchini." She reacts by doing an A-to-Z list of mischievous things, like "claw[ing] the curtains" and "hurl[ing] hair balls at our heads." When her owners return with food that ranges from "An Assortment of Anchovies" to "Baked Zebra Ziti," Kitty realizes she must atone for her bad behavior with a final list of alphabetical deeds such as cleaning the cat box and washing the car. Some actions and items are a bit of a stretch, in particular "sQuashes" for "Q" and "rhUbarb" for "U." While the story is packed with colorful cartoon illustrations that introduce each object, it is Kitty who steals the show with her slyly drawn feline expressions. Intended for slightly older alphabet-book fans, this offering will attract readers with a taste for the ridiculous.-Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
She may be a "bad bad BAD Kitty," but she's the star of an alphabet book that should be in every collection. This poor, black kitty only became bad when her family ran out of kitty-appropriate food. She was going to be forced to eat an alphabet of healthy foods, asparagus to zucchini. So she perpetrates an alphabet of badness, from "Ate my homework" to "Zeroing the zinnias." Then her loving family returns from the grocery with an alphabet of great kitty food, anchovies to zebra ziti-some of it silly, but she's excited enough to reform and perform an alphabet of gracious actions, from apologizing to a nipped grandma to lulling a baby into a "zzz"-ful sleep. Kitty gets a present too, her just deserts (a puppy to play with). Bruel's little black star is perhaps the hammiest, most expressive feline ever captured in watercolors. The quarter-page illustrations for all the letters in all four alphabets are littered with little (and big) laughs. Even the alphabet-experienced will love this bad, bad kitty! (Picture book. 3-9)
Publishers Weekly - Audio
Bruel’s picture book—which is included with the audiobook—cycles through the alphabet four times, telling the story of an angry cat exacting revenge on her owners for feeding her vegetables. This audio version works well when paired with the print edition—without it, children might be confused why a word like “rhUbarb” is listed under U instead of under R. Included are three audio versions of the book: the first is narrated by Vanessa Williams; the second is essentially the same recording as the first, with children prompted to follow along and turn the page at the sound of a cat’s meow; and the third is a live recording of Bruel reading to a class of children. Williams proves to be an expressive, enthusiastic, and polished narrator, while Bruel’s reading is much livelier, but lacks the musical accompaniment, sound quality, and production values of the studio recording. It’s clear that Bruel enjoys reading to children as he occasionally breaks from the book to explain something they might not know: “Zinnias,” he says, “for all you city folks, is a type of flower.” Ages 4–8. A Square Fish paperback. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"This offering will attract readers with a taste for the ridiculous."—School Library Journal
"There's so much going on here that kids will find lots to laugh about."—Booklist
MARCH 2012 - AudioFile
Distraught by the paucity of available cat food, Bad Kitty—who has been good—rifles through the kitchen only to find an alphabet’s worth of inedible food. Going bad is the only way to show her displeasure—“clawing the curtains” and “zeroing the zinnias,” for example. Will the results of a shopping trip that includes “turtle turnovers” satisfy? Vanessa Williams narrates at a good clip yet giving listeners time to pore over the illustrations. Her enthusiasm for Bad Kitty’s escapades is evident in moments of opera singing, kissing, and disgust at certain available foods like “parsnips, oh no!” Her crisp enunciation emphasizes Bruel’s use of the alphabet and repetition. On additional tracks the author reads his book and, in a video, creates a new story with a third-grade class. A.R. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
