Review: Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret by Bob Shea

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Ages 6-8
Meet Ballet Cat, Bob Shea's newest character, in his first book for early readers!
Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony are trying to decide what to play today. Nothing that Sparkles suggests--making crafts, playing checkers, and selling lemonade--goes well with the leaping, spinning, and twirling that Ballet Cat likes to do. When Sparkles's leaps, spins, and twirls seem halfhearted, Ballet Cat asks him what's wrong. Sparkles doesn't want to say. He has a secret that Ballet Cat won't want to hear. What Sparkles doesn't know is that Ballet Cat has a secret of her own, a totally secret secret. Once their secrets are shared, will their friendship end, or be stronger than ever?

MY TAKE:
I found this book to be quite charming and sweet.

In Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret, Sparkles and Ballet Cat are best friends who like to play together. One day, while playing their usual ballet game, Sparkles tells Ballet Cat that he has a secret. What could it be?

This story is a good way for young children to learn one of the main things about friendship: that it should be a give-and-take relationship and that you should consider other people's feelings and desires as well.

I thought Ballet Cat was cute. She was a non-annoying version of DeeDee from Dexter's Laboratory. I liked Sparkles a lot. He's a sweetheart, but there were moments when he reminded me of Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants and Sour Bill from Wreck-it-Ralph. That's a good thing, though, since it makes him even more endearing.

The illustration style reminds me of chalk drawings, but they facial expressions and everything else are quite expressive and really adds to the humor and charm of the story.

The only thing I wasn't too fond of was the solid color used for the backgrounds and speech balloons. It was a little too much and hard-on-the-eyes for me. Maybe kids will be more appreciative of that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for the e-ARC.

THE GOOD:

1. It's a sweet story.
2. The characters are endearing.
3. There are some funny moments. 

THE BAD:

1. The use of solid background colors and colored speech balloons can feel a bit much.

READ IT IF:

1. Your child loves ballet.
2. Your child and his/her friends always do what your child wants to do.
3. Your child likes colorful books.

RATING:


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