Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
Written and Illustrated by Chris Riddell
Ages 8-12
Hardcover, 176 pages
7.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
HarperCollins
ISBN-13: 978-0061448799
$10.99
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“A string of daring burglaries has taken place in Big City, and precious lapdogs are disappearing. Who is behind this crime wave?”
On another blog, I reviewed this fledgling series right after its first offering appeared on the shelves. It, and its author’s progeny, are so worthy that I’m repeating the review again here.
In the first book of this series (winner of the Nestle Children’s Book Prize and The Red House Children’s Book Award) Chris Riddell, distinguished co-creator of The Edge Chronicles, once again makes delightful use of his trademark blend of graphic conventions and witty storytelling. Ottoline’s world is populated with oddbodies and thingamajigs. When she is not dusting her parents’ four-spouted teapot collection or brushing the head-to-toe hair of her close companion Mr. Munrose, she is making astute observations as to the day’s events or hatching clever plans which she dutifully records in her notebook.
Her parents, at turns out, are traveling abroad, leaving Ottoline in the able care of Mr. Munroe and a team of professional home-tidiers, pillow-plumpers, and home-cooked meal providers. Dutiful writers of affectionate postcards which we read over Ottoline’s shoulder throughout the book, her parents have the laudable habits of sabotaging the efforts of butterfly collectors in the jungle, and bringing home rare hats and masks from exotic lands.
Knowing all this will not in the least spoil the story, for readers of Ottoline and the Yellow Cat must still discover the trouble in Big City, as Ottoline and Mr. Munroe collaborate to solve the mystery surrounding the cat in question. Also remaining to be settled: the true identity of an uninvited guest holed up in the basement of the P.W. Huffledinck Tower.
And oh yes, in case you were worried — by page 170, Ottoline’s loving parents are on their way home to their daughter.
A delightful read!
Also highly recommended: Ottoline Goes to School
