Review: Kittybunkport

Written by Scott Rothman

Illustrated by Zachariah OHora

New York: Viking, 2025. Picture book.

Best friends Chowder and Crackers spend their days as all cats do in their port town in Maine: napping, lazing in the sun, and eating all the lobster they can. When the light of the terrifying and absolutely-haunted-by-lobster-ghosts lighthouse goes out, the cats of Kittybunkport panic. Crackers and Chowder are chosen to investigate what is wrong, but they wouldn't say that they are super scared (that's exactly what they would say). They make their way through the dark and gross and very cobwebby lighthouse only to meet...a lobster ghost?

The resolution to the duo's fright--the very chatty fisherdog who is there to change the lightbulb--will make readers giggle. Illustrations contradict the text in hilarious fashion as the cats face the crisis of the lighthouse while trembling with terror. The back and forth comments of Chowder and Crackers are perfect for a funny readaloud. Exactly what you would expect and want from a silly story about cats in coastal Maine.

Comments

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