Bandit by Karen Rostoker-Gruber
This article originally appeared in SLJ’s Extra Helping. Sign up now!
Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA -- School Library Journal, 5/7/2008
From SLJ May 2008
ROSTOKER-GRUBER, Karen. Bandit. illus. by Vincent Nguyen. unpaged. CIP. Marshall Cavendish. 2008. RTE $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7614-5382-6. LC 2007011720.
PreS-Gr 2–Bandit the cat is annoyed to discover that his bed, toys, and tuna are missing. He is doubly annoyed when he is placed in his carrier and put in the car. He thinks he is going to the vet. Then, because the journey is taking too long, he thinks he is going on vacation. When he arrives at an empty house, he is unimpressed ("Some vacation!") and promptly makes his way back across town to his favorite sunny spot in his house. Except it’s not his house anymore. He has moved, which is "mews" to him. His owner finds him and takes him to his new house, where his bed, his toys, and a fresh bowl of tuna await him. At last, Bandit is home. By telling the story from the point of view of an extremely territorial pet, Rostoker-Gruber approaches the issue of moving in a fresh way. Bandit’s experience and reaction will resonate with children who have moved themselves: the ’tude he exhibits, the resignation with which he says good-bye to all that is familiar, and the comfort he feels in finding favorite objects, even if they are in an unfamiliar place. Nguyen’s mixed-media illustrations have an attractive Pop Art style, reminiscent of the comic-book and newsprint look of artist Roy Lichtenstein. While this title certainly will be useful in soothing the nerves of children preparing to move, it stands on its own as a funny, stylish book about a determined cat.
