Catfish Kate and the Sweet Swamp Band

PreS-Gr 3"Hum strum/rattle-rattle/tootle-ootle croon./Sweet swamp music underneath the moon." Catfish Kate is playing her banjo with her friends Snake, Newt, and Skeeter, but Skink and his Skunktail Boys complain. They have come to the swamp to read and they want QUIET! When the two arguing groups reach an impasse, Kate calls her girl band away to search for a compromise. The Skunktail Boys think they've won but wait! Kate has an ace up her sleeve, and all ends well: "Happily ever after/underneath the moon." The text is short and rhythmic with many noisy sounds, and the colorful cartoon illustrations burst with lively motion. Although there are various other "band" picture books, some also with onomatopoeic sounds, this rhyming romp emphasizes the importance of compromise. It would be a good jumping-off point for a discussion on conflict resolution as well as just a fun read-aloud."Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA" Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Rocking out on her banjo, the bodacious Catfish Kate gradually adds members to her band (Hum strum/ rattle-rattle/ tootle-ootle croon/ scritch-scratch/ zing zang/ underneath the moon). But conflict arises when the girls' music interrupts the quiet that Skink and his Skunktail Boys need for reading. Smith ("See How They Run") adds plenty of comical visual details to his cartoonlike illustrations of the swampy nocturnal settingflashlights attached to branches allow the skink and skunks to read, while band member Spider hangs by a thread to scritch-scratch a record. The rhythm of the narrative stumbles briefly when Weeks ("Bunny Fun") sets up the feud, which escalates until Kate said, 'WAIT! There has to be a way/ for you to have your quiet, while we still get to play./ We have to find a "compromise", / that's what we need to do.' A skunk asks, What's a compromise? but Weeks defines the term only by examplecattail fluff as earplugs lets the two groups coexist peaceably. Weeks's morality tale has bounce, but kids may remain confused about what a compromise entails (besides plugging one's ears). Ages 48. "(May)" Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.