Bad Kitty Returns! Poor Puppy by Nick Bruel

Although Nick Bruel's just-published picture book is titled Poor Puppy, the star of the show is Bad Kitty, a scrawny, scraggly she-cat (see my review of Bad Kitty posted April 1, 2007) who has no desire to play with poor Puppy, a clumsy, clueless mutt who pants to play chase with the cat of the house.

But not to worry. Bruel provides an alphabetical list of alternative playthings for Puppy--Airplanes, Balls, Cars, Dolls, Electric trains (with Kitty glaring balefully from inside the railroad tunnel)--but, "ME-double OW!" not Old cat toys from under the sofa! Now Puppy has gone too far, and as Puppy plays his way through the rest of the alphabet (Wind-Up Toys, BoXes of crayons, Yo-yos, and Zoo animals), Bruel shows Kitty, little left fang in sight, plotting a cat-toy takeover.

Pooped by his playtime, Puppy drops into dreamland, where his reveries are all about playing with Kitty, in alphabetical order (naturally), from Applebobbing in Antarctica, through Limbo in London (with a Beefeater guard holding one end of the stick) and Sprinting (from the Pamplona bulls) in Spain. As Puppy snoozes, we see Kitty stalking stealthily, belly to the ground, on a marauding mission to recapture her catnip mouse from Puppy's paws.

Alas for Kitty! When she snatches the mouse, Puppy awakes and, ironically, after Kitty's aloof act, finally gets his wish to chase Kitty to his heart's content.

Poor Puppy gives the reader another chance to root for an unlikely heroine, a good cat-bad cat character who is as charming as she is conniving. Bruel's drawings of his scruffy little feline are a delight. I'd love to see more of Bad Kitty from Nick Bruel.

Good Cat, Bad Cat: Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

We've all wondered. Why would such a good kitty DO THAT?

Nick Bruel, best-selling author of Boing!,ponders that question with awesome artwork and an amazing abecedarius in his book Bad Kitty.

All cats get a major sulk on when their owners run out of cat chow, but what really flips Kitty's switch are the alternatives which her owners annouce in alphabetical order, including Eggplants, Fennel, Garlic, Horseradish--ACK! Kitty decides to be bad, very, very bad, bad, BAD, and goes through her own alphabetical list of vengeful misdeeds, as she "Endangered the goldfish, Flooded the bathroom, Grappled with Guests, and Hurled Hairballs at our Heads (Hack, Hack, Hack!)" With the household in shreds (and the Zinnias Zeroed), the owners return from the grocery with a plethora of provender, from "an Assortment of Anchovies" through "Lizard Lasagna" to "baked Zebra Ziti." Happy, but contrite, Kitty atones for her sins by performing an alphabetical list of penitences when she "Cleaned her Cat box," "didn't eat Uncle Murray," and (my favorite) "Washed the car."


The angular illustrations of Kitty, one fang bared as she wreaks havoc and all round-eyed and curly-tailed sweetness when she make amends, and the hilarious parade of alphabetical items keep the letter lessons anything but dull. As a reward for her abject repentance, the family introduces her to their drooly new puppy, "a new friend" that she "can share her food with!" The final page shows Kitty with that fang just visible again. "Uh-oh!"

Any picture book which can go through the alphabet four times and still get googols of giggles is a keeper. Even if you don't like cats, your kids will love to bring Bad Kitty home!