《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Gr 2-4-Four older cats with distinct personalities reside in houses surrounding Cuckoo Square, and frequently escape to the garden in the middle of the square to share stories about "their humans." In a series of easy chapters, Blossom, plump and comfortable, and "her person," Miles, endure a spoiled cousin who comes to visit, making their lives miserable. Readers will chuckle when Blossom and her feline pal Geejay successfully conspire to send the girl packing. In the second tale, Perkins, "a large, dignified tabby," reluctantly becomes involved in a Paint Your Pet contest. His paw prints across a finished portrait catch the attention of a famous art dealer, earning him the title "Perkins, the Pussycat Picasso." The jibes at both people and situations are very funny, but delivered with just a touch of adult sensibility, and some of the British references may puzzle the intended audience. Still, the breezy style, slapstick humor, and large print liberally interspersed with Ross's comical sketches offer just the right challenge for early chapter-book readers.-Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
出版社周刊评论
Peppy plots, comical line drawings and a large typeface neatly tailor Geras's (Troy) two tales to the needs of reluctant readers especially those who find felines fetching. Told with plenty of Briticisms, each story affords a cat's-eye view of a household bordering the eponymous square. In the first and funnier entry, easygoing, pleasingly plump Blossom recounts a disastrous visit by Prissy, the six-year-old cousin of his eight-year-old owner, Miles. "She is a thorough nuisance," says the disgusted pet to his cat pals in Cuckoo Square and right he is. Pesky Prissy falsely accuses Blossom of causing her to break a flowerpot, deliberately makes a dreadful mess of the bathroom and douses the dozing pet with icy water. When Miles and Blossom join forces to try to drive away the unwelcome houseguest, their campaign culminates in a madcap dinner-table scene in which the conniving cat hides a mouse in Prissy's mashed potatoes. A wise tabby cat named Perkins relays the second, less raucous but equally witty story, in which the narrator becomes famous when he inadvertently creates a work of art. Ross's (illustrator of the Amber Brown novels) animated sketches drolly partner the text. A companion volume, More Cats of Cuckoo Square, is in the works. Ages 6-9. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
《儿童读物杂志》(Horn Book)书评
Four feline friends help one another deal with the idiosyncrasies of their human families in these two tales. Blossom relates the horrible behavior of a six-year-old houseguest who blames the cat for her nasty pranks. In the second story, Perkins's owner wants him to pose for a painted portrait. The comical stories, printed in a large typeface, are accompanied by humorous illustrations. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus评论
Newly fledged chapter-book readers will gloat along with the funny, furry narrators in these two tales of feline triumph. In "Blossom's Revenge," open warfare ensues when sly, spoiled six-year-old Prissy Pinkerton comes for a stay. As Blossom tells it, Prissy is determined to make her life miserable. She manages always to seem to be the innocent, when, in fact, she's the instigator. But even Prissy's no match for a flour-coated "ghost cat," or a mouse in her mashed potatoes. In the second story, sudden fame comes to sedate old "Picasso Perkins" when a visiting art gallery owner sees a sheaf of children's cat sketches decorated with pawprints. The language is droll and sly, "but even at my advanced age, I am quite nippy on my feet in an emergency and thankfully, Lexie cannot follow me through the cat flap." Ross (Little Wolf, Forest Detective, p. 948, etc.) sprinkles comic, ink drawings liberally through Geras's large-type text, perfectly capturing the cats' sense of weary-no, lazy-superiority. Fans of Lauber's Purrfectly Purrfect: Life at the Acatemy (2000) will purr over this, too. (Fiction. 7-10)
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Gr. 2-4. Two delightful stories offer witty takes on the secret lives of cats from two distinct feline voices and perspectives. In "Blossom's Revenge," Blossom and her six-year-old owner, Miles, contend with visiting cousin Prissy, whose angelic facade fools adults but whose mean pranks make life miserable for both cat and boy. In "Picasso Perkins," Blossom's friend Perkins resents being forced to pose for his owner Lexie's art project. The felines' eloquent narratives, divided into short chapters, offer charming, droll descriptions of cats' trials and tribulations; "wise" sayings of the "Furry Ancestors"; and humorous commentary on human behavior. Black-and-white cartoon drawings wittily portray events and characters, cat and human. A fast, fun read. --Shelle Rosenfeld
摘录
BLOSSOM'S REVENGE "Look at that cat!" said Prissy Pinkerton. "Why is it so fat?" Honestly! I had never been so insulted in my life! I may not be as slim as I once was, but no one could possibly call me fat! Prissy Pinkerton is a very nasty little girl. She doesn't look nasty. If you could see her, you would almost certainly say "How sweet!" She is six years old. She has curly golden hair. She wears white socks. She sucks her thumb. Her cheeks are dimpled. Her eyes are blue. Nevertheless, she is nasty. I knew she was nasty the moment she opened her mouth to speak. My name is Blossom and I'm one of the Cuckoo Square Cats. There's a garden in the square, with railings all around it and a gate that's kept locked. The flower beds are well dug, and there are plenty of shrubs under whose branches we can hide. We like sharpening our claws on the trees, although it is only young kittens who go scrabbling up to the topmost branches just for the fun of it. My friends and I are too old for that sort of behavior. We sit on the benches or flop about on the soft grass in the summer. The humans have keys to what we cats call Our Place, because we are the ones who use it most often. My particular friends are Perkins (whose people are called the Blythes at number 27), Callie (from number 18), and Geejay (whose real name is Ginger Jack, and who curls up in front of a fire at number 2). Perkins is a large, dignified tabby who has lived in the square longer than any of us, Callie is a sweet-natured, gentle calico cat with white fur prettily spotted in orange and black, and Geejay looks like a lion. He has yellow eyes and is the best hunter in the square. As for me, I'm fluffy and black and white, and I like to go through life as calmly and peacefully as I can. Other cats come and go, and we allow them to walk through the square, but only on their way to somewhere else. This is our territory. This is where we come to get away from our humans, to exchange news, and especially to tell stories. Earlier today, we were all waiting for the Pinkertons to arrive at my house with their little daughter. "She is a relation," I told them. "her name is Prissy. Her parents are bringing her to stay with us for the summer holidays while they find a new house and get it ready. She's supposed to be company for Miles." Perkins opened one eye and announced, "Visitors never turn out to be what you think. We have them all the time." He yawned. "Wake me up when she arrives. I do not like to miss anything, but it is hard to keep one's eyes open." "Perhaps," Callie murmured, "she'll be a lovely little girl." Callie expects the best of everyone. I, also, thought it would be delightful to have another child in our house. My people are called Mr. and Mrs. Randall, but I call them Mum and Dad because that is Miles's name for them. They are good humans, although they have their faults. Mum is house-proud. She prowls through rooms armed with a fearsome device called a Hoover, which sucks dirt out of the carpet and makes a most distressing noise. When I was a kitten, I thought the Hoover was a monster and hid from it under the chest of drawers, but I'm used to it now. Mum has a long metal tube that she attaches to the Hoover sometimes. "This is my Dustbuster, Blossom," she told me once. "It works wonders with cat hairs." Whenever Mum mentions cat hairs, I yawn. She goes on and on about them. They are her favorite subject. She ought to be grateful that I am black and white. I leave pale hairs on the dark things and dark hairs on the pale things, and this allows her to play happily with her Dustbuster almost every day. Dad is a little absentminded. Sometimes he doesn't notice me. He has sat on me, tripped over me, and even driven off in his car while I was curled up asleep on the hood. PICASSO PERKINS My name is Perkins and I am an old cat and a wise cat. I am, in addition, familiar with all the sayings of Our Ancient Furry Ancestors. They say, for instance, "Breakfast is the right meal for interesting news." Today at breakfast, Lexie said: "Guess what? There's a painting competition in the Bugle. It's called Paint Your Pet, and there are cash prizes! Also, the winning picture gets printed in the paper." "Lovely, dear," said Melissa. "Please eat your cereal." Lexie continued, through a spoonful of food, "Entries have to be in on Monday. I wish I'd known about this before ... we haven't got enough time. I want to do a portrait of Perkins. Jess'll be here in a second and I'll tell her about it, and we'll do it together. It's sure to win. Perkins is so beautiful, aren't you, Perkins?" I looked up and blinked at her to show her my gratitude. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for. Lexie likes to get her own way. She is not a calm and docile child. She goes upstairs two at a time; she never walks when she can run; and she climbs trees as well as many cats. The Jess she was expecting is her best friend and she lives next door to us. Lexie is a great talker just like her mother. Melissa is a teacher at Lexie's school and believes in recycling and the creative use of various foodstuffs. The children in her class are forever making sculptures from old cornflakes boxes and egg cartons, and sticking lentils, beans, and uncooked macaroni onto cardboard, spraying them with gold and silver paint, and taking them home to proud parents. Roland Blythe, Lexie's father, is an artist. "I'm a pro," he says. "A real professional. There's not many who can say they make a decent living from their brushes. Starving in a garret wouldn't suit us, eh?" he says to his wife and daughter. Nevertheless, Roland would love to have his paintings exhibited in a proper art gallery. That is what he would call success. His pictures end up on greeting cards, calendars, and wrapping paper. Still, I know he has been preparing what he calls "real pictures" in a shed at the end of the garden, which he calls "my studio." It is a delightful, warm place to curl up in during the chilly months of the year, and Roland likes to chat to me as he works. "I value your opinion, Perkins," he says to me. "Tell me what you think of this. I call it 'Seagulls at Sunset.'" He likes painting animals and birds. He has done "Puppies at Playtime," "Fluffy Fun" (rabbits), and "Purrfect Peace" (kittens asleep). I never tell Roland my opinion of his work, but Blossom, Callie, and Geejay know that I am not a great admirer of his pictures. Their colors are too bright or too pale. They are all much the same as one another and they are what Lexie and Jess call "soppy." Whenever Roland shows me something new, I purr enthusiastically and pretend to examine the painting carefully, but often my eyes are half-closed and I am thinking about my next sleep and where I might be most comfortable. I would not wish to hurt his feelings, for as the Furry Ancestors say: "A purring cat is never short of chopped chicken liver." But let me return to the breakfast table. Lexie had decided my portrait was going to win a prize. "That's very exciting, Lexie," said Roland, "but I have some thrilling news of my own. Look at this letter." He waved it around, narrowly missing the milk jug. "Wilfred de Crespay is coming to view my work on Saturday. That's tomorrow ...oh, my word!" He began to fan himself with the letter. "I've gone quite hot and bothered." "Who's Wilfred the Crisp?" Lexie said. "Is he foreign?" "De Crespay," said Roland. "His name is probably of Norman origin, but he is English. He is one of the best-known art dealers in town. He goes to see what artists are painting and chooses pictures to go in his qallery. Then rich people buy them for lots and lots of money. I could be famous! I wrote to him some time ago but never really expected an answer. Goodness me! And such short notice! He says he likes to catch painters as they are and not give them too much time to prepare new work. But I must go and begin to get everything into a fit state to be seen." Excerpted from The Cats of Cuckoo Square: Two Stories by Adele Geras All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.