Two terrific children’s books on review today! Thanks to the lovely folks at Penguin Random House Canada, I will be talking about: Megabat Is a Fraidybat, book four in the Megabat series by Anna Humphrey and Kass Reich; and See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka. Enjoy!

“Mine prepared mineself in all outfittings of bravery. But it was none use. Mine’s just a fraidy-bat.” He hung his head in shame. “A scaredy, little fraidy-bat.”. The adventures of Megabat and Daniel continue in a summer-centered story! The third book in the warmhearted and sweetly goofy Megabat chapter book series by Anna Humphrey and illustrator Kass Reich sees Megabat join Daniel for a week away at summer camp. Feeling worried and sad at the thought of leaving his mom, dad, friend Talia and other animal buddies, Daniel is comforted when his tiny melon-loving bat decides to go along with him to Camp Wildwood. While Megabat seems very excited about the prospect of bugs and new friends, and adventures and new food, Daniel isn’t quite as enthusiastic. Things change, however, when Daniel’s bunk mates turn out to be pretty kind and cool…and thrilled with the discovery of a teeny talking bat! While promising to keep Megabat a secret, the new group of friends find themselves having all sorts of awesome new adventures. Megabat, however, finds himself in a bit of a pickle when he meets a boisterous, adventurous, cave-dwelling baby bat and her intimidating mom. When his new bat friends suddenly need his help, Megabat finds himself feeling scared instead of brave. Can Megabat be as brave as his favourite graphic novel superhero Diamond Foot and come to his new friends’ rescue? Megabat Is a Fraidybat is as endearing and entertaining as the previous titles in the series; readers who already adore this chapter book series will find even more Megabat silliness and sweetness to love! Readers on the lookout for a new series to try, along the lines of Zoey and Sassafras or Mia Mayhem, might definitely want to give the Megabat books a read!

David LaRochelle and illustrator Mike Wohnoutka, who previously collaborated on the very funny picture book Moo!, join forces again for See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog. A wonderfully funny, fourth-wall-breaking early reader title featuring three short stories starring a cat…oops, no, starring a dog!- will likely have readers in fits of giggles. Dog is not happy. He knows something is up when he spots the title of the book. He is a dog! Why does the book even have ‘cat’ in the title? But it gets worse. So much worse. In the first story, as Dog has to contend with the story narrator talking, for some reason, about a blue cat in a green dress, Dog becomes increasingly agitated. When unicorns are mentioned, Dog sort of loses his cool at the narrator…only to find a surprise traipsing across the the page. More twists and turns are to be had in the second and third stories, with appearances made by some unexpected animals. (No spoilers!). With streamlined artwork (supremely appealing, cute and cool) and streamlined text (that pokes fun at and makes good use of repetition for practicing readers!), See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog is a more than solid and welcome funny addition to the world of early reader books. Fans of series such as Snail & Worm, Pizza and Taco, Elephant & Piggie, other interactive picture books, or books by creators such as Ethan Long, Jan Thomas, or Salina Yoon, might especially delight in See the Cat‘s adorably madcap nature.

I received copies of these titles courtesy of Penguin Random House Canada and imprints Tundra Books and Candlewick Press, in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions and comments are my own. See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog is set for publication September 8, 2020 from Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House Canada. Other titles have been published and are currently available.