Kitten Construction Company: A Bridge Too Fur

Gr 2-4–In the first series installment, the House Kittens gained the trust of the city after working on the mayor’s mansion. Now the cats’ work on the Mewburg stadium is nearing completion, and Marmalade and her crew have been offered an exciting new gig. A local bridge is falling apart, and a new one needs to be built. Who better than the House Kittens to take on the job? The cats don’t take into account that building a bridge means working near water, and only Bubbles, the plumber cat, is comfortable with that. Marmalade sends Bubbles out to lead the crew, but it’s not long before the kittens are behind schedule. Additional help is required, and at last they resort to working with the Demo Doggos. Tensions mount as the two teams clash, until Marmalade concedes that she wrongly assumed that dogs aren’t as capable as cats. The message of the importance of giving others a fair shake and refraining from snap judgments is clear but not preachy. There are plenty of puns, and visual humor abounds, like when a cat knocks the microphone off the podium during a press conference. Green’s illustrations are adorable and easy to follow, making this title a good pick for burgeoning comics fans.