Pick of the Week:Binky Under Pressure
by Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
Grades 2-6
64 pages
Binky faces off against an intruder: Gracie, the new foster cat. He must defend his turf and his humans, and find a way to get her out of his space station.
From School Library Journal:
Another winning entry in the series. In this installment, a new character enters Binky’s well-regulated space station. While Gracie poses as a foster cat competing for his humans’ affections, Binky soon realizes that she is in fact a captain in F.U.R.S.T. (Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel), and she has come to evaluate the performance of his space-cat duties. The story is cinematically told; Spires pulls into close-ups at key moments and shifts fluidly between the vantage points of her two main characters. Pages are well laid out; while the placement and shape of panels vary, they always guide readers’ eyes easily through the action, and flashback and fantasy are easily distinguished from real-time events through the use of wavy panel boundaries. As always, the story is infused with laugh-out-loud moments aimed both at kids (Binky’s recurring bouts of space gas) and at adults (annoyed at Gracie, Binky thinks, “If this is what girls are like, he’s glad he’s fixed”).
You might also like:
- Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires
- Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires
- Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Jarrett Krosoczka
The Atlantic
October 31, 2011
The Phantom Tollbooth isn't merely one of the most celebrated children's books of all time, it's also one of those rare children's books with timeless philosophy for grown-ups, its map of The Kingdom of Wisdom a profound metaphor for curiosity and the human condition. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the beloved classic and there's hardly a better celebration than The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition
