Boing!: no bouncing on the bed (This One 'N That One) - Hardcover

Seymour and Keach (Yum!, not reviewed, 1998) join forces for another This One 'N That One escapade, continuing the capers of two frisky kittens based on their own twins. The tired theme of jumping on the bed is at its most predictable here. When the two frisky, literal-minded twin kittens are told by Big Jim and Lady Jane not to jump on chairs, they jump on the sofa. When told not to jump on the sofa, they jump on the bed, and so forth. Soon Lady Jane is missing, and found jumping on her own bed with the ``naughtiest kits in Catafornia,'' in a plot device so standard it's now become expected. Big Jim can't beat 'em, so he joins 'em, and subsequently breaks the bed. The story is little more than a snapshot from a family album, and even pictures of the wide-eyed cats in bright pajamas can't save it; readers wanting more boing for their buck will have to look elsewhere. (Picture book. 3-5) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

PreSchool-Grade 2-In this addition to the series, the twin kittens are having a hopping good time bouncing on beds, sofas, and chairs. The ruckus awakens Daddy Cat Big Jim and Mama Cat Lady Jane and then interrupts their breakfast. The parents try in vain to put a stop to the noise and the feline gymnastics. The twist comes when Daddy storms up the stairs one last time and is surprised to find that Lady Jane has taken an "if you can't beat `em, join `em" attitude. Soon, everyone is bouncing on the bed-until Big Jim breaks it. Planer's cartoons are colorful, but average in quality, and the story is no more than a one-joke book. Eileen Christelow's Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Ticknor & Fields, 1989) and Tedd Arnold's No Jumping on the Bed (Dial, 1987) are more competently written and illustrated.
Roxanne Burg, Thousand Oaks Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.