The Cutest Thing Ever

by Amy Ignatow, Hsinping Pan (Illustrator)

Overview

"Want to see the cutest thing ever? Is it a fluffy monster? A kitten? Kittens in a hat? What about a unicorn? These things are cute but are they really the cutest thing ever?"--From back cover.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419733574
Publisher:	Abrams Appleseed
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Amy Ignatow is the author of the Popularity Papers series and the Odds series. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two kids, and on rare occasions she enjoys sleeping. Hsinping Pan is an award-winning animator and illustrator. She has worked on everything from commercials to movies, music videos, magazines, and children’s books. She lives in Taipei, Taiwan.

Editorial Reviews

09/16/2019

“Want to see the cutest thing ever?” asks an excited purple bat clad in a black sweater and blue pants. A three-eyed yellow monster with pink freckles and four feet waves from the next page, but the purple bat has had a critical change of heart: “Okay, I guess it could be cuter.” Ramping up the silliness with each page turn (“How about two kittens wearing hats inside of another hat! That a cute monster is wearing! And they’re riding a unicorn!!!”), Ignatow (the Popularity Papers series) hurdles young readers through a whimsical journey, while Pan’s dynamic illustrations—featuring rounded creatures against blank, candy-colored backgrounds—heighten the cuteness factor. Is it more adorable, for example, to add “a parade of koala bears” dancing and playing various instruments or, perhaps, pink bunny astronauts? In an interactive final surprise, a mirror held by the colorful cast of creatures reveals the cutest image of all: the book’s reader. Ages 3–5. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2019-06-16
There is a curious, implied question in the title: What is "the cutest thing ever"?

A tiny, purple bat thinks it knows the answer. But it needs to check in with readers to make sure. The winged narrator asks them directly, "Want to see the cutest thing ever?" A page turn reveals a cloudlike creature with three eyes, a smattering of freckles, and five stubby legs. "It's a cute monster!" Anticipating the audience's disappointment, the bat concedes, "Okay, I guess it could be cuter." The next attempt shows the cute monster with…a kitten! (Wearing a bow tie, which does make any kitten extra-cute.) The bat hurries to add, "Or maybe… // A monster with two kittens!" Perhaps adding hats and then a unicorn will help too. The bat, getting more and more desperate to impress, adds a "rainbow road" as well as "a parade of koala bears" and more silliness, culminating in a full-spread scene exploding with cuteness. But is it the cutest thing ever? The bat, with rainbow perspiration droplets and wings stretched out wide, has one more idea. The final page turn just might reveal the cutest yet—and will certainly make readers shout in gleeful recognition. While there's not much beyond the dizzying piling on of cuteness, there's no questioning that it is, well, cute.

Slim but fun. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews