Cute & Cuter by Michael Townsend - OPTIONAL

Townsend, Michael Cute & Cuter.  PICTURE BOOK.  Knopf (Random), 2013.  $16.  Content:  G.  

For one birthday, Janie Jane gets Sir Yips-a-lot, the world’s cutest puppy, as her present.  The next year Janie Jane receives Lady Meow-meow, the world’s cutest kitty.  Sir Yips-a-lot is not quite sure how he feels about the kitty, but he thinks the word may be “jealous”.  Sir Yips-a-lot does something desperate to rid himself of the kitty, but circumstances show him that there may be room for everyone to be cute together.  

The plot and the narration for the book are great – but I actually felt my eyeballs hurting because of the neon barrage of the illustrations (I just opened the book again to see if I was kidding myself, but nope – the glare off the pages hurts my eyes even using my peripheral vision).  I wish the color scheme was seriously toned down.  The added cuteness (as advertised on the cover) is pretty overwhelming for me.  I think I will have to test this out on a four-year-old girl and see what she thinks.  

Pre-K – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS