Illustrated by Vincent Nguyen
Rating: Marginal
Marshall Cavendish, 2008, $15.99
ISBN: 978-0761453826
Age/Grade level: Ages 4-8
Bandit the cat is distrubed from his sleep. Strangers are moving furniture. He doesn't understand why there are boxes everywhere and why Michelle put him in his cat carrier and then drives him away. It seems that Michelle isn't going to take him to see Vet, which is good. The bad thing is: Bandit finds himself in a strange house where he couldn't find anything comforting. Without a moment of hesitation, Bandit takes action--he is going back to the place he's familiar with. But the streets are far from friendly. Will Bandit and Michelle reunite?
The attraction of this book, to me, is the illustration. The main character, Bandit, is expressive and full of babbles of thoughts. The Pop Art illustration catches the reader's eyes. Suspense is building up through the story as readers follow the very territorial Bandit on his way to his old place. Alghough this simple story can serve as a conversation starter for families with young children that are going to move, the simplicity of the plot is not consistent with the sophisticated illustration style, which leads me to believe there is more to the story.
Reviewer: Zhen (Tracy) Li, Orange County Public Library, Laguna Niguel
