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Overview
Chester is more than a picture book. It is a story told, and retold, by dueling author-illustrators. Mélanie Watt starts out with the story of a mouse in a house. Then Mélanie's cat, Chester, sends the mouse packing and proceeds to cover the pages with rewrites from his red marker, and the gloves are off. Mélanie and her mouse won't take Chester's antics lying down. And Chester is obviously a creative powerhouse with confidence to spare. Where will this war of the picture-book makers lead? Is it a one-way ticket to Chesterville, or will Mélanie get her mouse production off the ground?
Synopsis
A comical picture book created by dueling author-illustrators by the acclaimed creator of Scaredy Squirrel.
Maryann H. OwenCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal
PreS-K
While the conceit behind this book is quite clever, the presentation will be puzzling to young children and won't be of interest to those who are old enough to "get it." Watt begins writing a story about a mouse that lives in the country. However, her cat, Chester, wants the story to be about him, so he takes a red marker in paw and begins to write his own tale in addition to, and sometimes instead of, the author's. The book needs to be read in two voices (the author's and the cat's) in order to make sense to young listeners; but even then, there is not enough plot to garner their interest, and the concept will require too much explanation. The "story" is merely about the pair's test of wills. Charming pencil and watercolor illustrations, assembled digitally, depict Chester as a pudgy tabby and the mouse as tiny and gray. The chances of this book being requested more than once are remote.
Editorials
School Library Journal
PreS-K
While the conceit behind this book is quite clever, the presentation will be puzzling to young children and won't be of interest to those who are old enough to "get it." Watt begins writing a story about a mouse that lives in the country. However, her cat, Chester, wants the story to be about him, so he takes a red marker in paw and begins to write his own tale in addition to, and sometimes instead of, the author's. The book needs to be read in two voices (the author's and the cat's) in order to make sense to young listeners; but even then, there is not enough plot to garner their interest, and the concept will require too much explanation. The "story" is merely about the pair's test of wills. Charming pencil and watercolor illustrations, assembled digitally, depict Chester as a pudgy tabby and the mouse as tiny and gray. The chances of this book being requested more than once are remote.
—Maryann H. OwenCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.