The Totally Secret Secret (Ballet Cat Series)

by Bob Shea, Bob Shea (Illustrator)

Overview

"Move over, Elephant and Piggie!" commands School Library Journal—the first book starring the vivacious Ballet Cat marks the launch of a new favorite friendship series for early readers.

Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony are trying to decide what to play today. Nothing that Sparkles suggests—making crafts, playing checkers, and selling lemonade—goes well with the leaping, spinning, and twirling that Ballet Cat likes to do. When Sparkles's leaps, spins, and twirls seem halfhearted, Ballet Cat asks him what's wrong. Sparkles doesn't want to say. He has a secret that Ballet Cat won't want to hear. What Sparkles doesn't know is that Ballet Cat has a secret of her own, a totally secret secret. Once their secrets are shared, will their friendship end, or be stronger than ever?

Don't miss the other Ballet Cat books:
Ballet Cat: Dance Dance Underpants
Ballet Cat: What's Your Favorite Favorite?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484713785
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/05/2015
Series:	Ballet Cat , #1
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	294,267
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD370L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bob Shea has written many popular books for children, including Chez Bob, Who Wet My Pants?, Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great and the Dinosaur vs. … series. He lives in Madison, Connecticut and he invites you to visit his website at bobshea.com.

Editorial Reviews

Sometimes even the closest of buddies conceal secrets out of fear. For Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony, the truth came out after the high twirling feline realized that her pony pal was performing dance only half-heartedly. Pressed for a reason, Sparkles finally blurts out, "Sometimes I don't want to play ballet!" Instead of causing a friendship fracture, the hesitant admission evokes a heartfelt confession of friendship from Ballet Cat. A sweet picture book story about empathy and compromise.

While readers may see parallels with [Mo Willems's] Elephant and Piggie, they'll soon realize that they are very much in the world of Shea, the author and illustrator of the Dinosaur vs. picture book series. Besides Shea's familiar manic style, featuring characters drawn with thick, crayonlike black outlines on brightly colored pages, there is more innocence, and a cinematic feel, with a lot of physical action…There are many visual clues to help early readers, but they'll also be likely to fall for these two sweet friends who want nothing more than to be together.

The New York Times Book Review - Laura Lutz

★ 03/23/2015
Tapping into the same barely restrained exuberance and visual energy that characterizes much of his previous work, Shea introduces Ballet Cat, a pearls-and-tutu-wearing feline who loves to dance as much as the author’s Dinosaur and Cheetah characters love winning. The problem? Ballet Cat’s best friend, Sparkles the Pony, may be getting a tad tired of “playing ballet” every day. Like Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie, these two are a contemporary comic duo with staying power; Shea mines Ballet Cat’s dialed-up enthusiasm and Sparkles’s hangdog expressions for everything they are worth. Boldly contrasting backgrounds heighten the strong emotions at play and, luckily, after Sparkles reveals his “secret secret” about dancing (“Is the secret that you are not so great at ballet?” Ballet Cat asks concernedly. “That is not a very secret secret, Sparkles”), this friendship is undiminished. Ages 6–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Ballet Cat series:

Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret named a 2016 ALA notable book

“The humor and theme of friendship and sharing will have broad appeal beyond the beginning reader set. Move over Elephant and Piggie!” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2015
PreS-Gr 2—Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony are great friends. One day, when choosing what to play, Sparkles picks making crafts. "Yay! Crafts!" says Ballet Cat, until she has second thoughts. She loves to leap and dance, and leaping with scissors is not a good idea. Then, Sparkles suggests checkers. "Yes! Checkers!" says Ballet Cat. But then she decides that their dance kicks might knock over the checkerboard. What about selling lemonade? "The lemonade will splash when we spin," says Ballet Cat. There seems to be only one activity that goes with leaping, kicking, and spinning. "We could play ballet," suggests Sparkles unenthusiastically. The problem is, they play ballet every day, and Ballet Cat is slow in noticing that Sparkles is not at all interested. Sparkles is acting glum and has a "secret secret," namely that he sometimes does not like ballet. He is afraid that revealing this fact will mean they are no longer best friends. But Ballet Cat has a secret of her own. There is something that she loves even more than ballet: Sparkles. In the last panel, they are happily playing checkers. This early reader has simple, vivacious cartoon artwork done in inks with digital enhancements. Shea's signature style and bright bold colors add to the fun. Although the text is somewhat sophisticated and the dialogue is entirely in word balloons, the humor and theme of friendship and sharing will have broad appeal beyond the beginning reader set. VERDICT Move over Elephant and Piggie!—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

2015-03-03
A pink cat and a polka-dot horse join together in a light story of secrets and friendship.Ballet Cat and Sparkles the horse want to find something to do. At each page turn, Sparkles comes up with an idea that is quickly shot down by Ballet Cat, a dance-obsessed Debbie Downer, for whom ballet is all. Crafts? They can't leap with scissors. Checkers? Their kicks would knock over the board. Sell lemonade? It would splash when they spun. When Sparkles suggests they might do something other than spin, Ballet Cat shoots that down, and Sparkles realizes they are going to play ballet. Again. With half-closed eyes and a resigned attitude, Sparkles plays ballet with reluctance. He 'fesses up his painful secret, "Sometimes I don't want to play ballet." With speech bubbles, deft cartoon strokes, and emotional close-ups, Shea lets young readers easily decode both the illustrations and the text. Though the mood is light, the reality—one friend calling all the shots—is not. Using easy words to set up a common situation, Shea dips his toes into the early-reader pool. The marriage of amusing story and expressive illustrations makes this one that new readers will enjoy over and over. Here's hoping that Ballet Cat and Sparkles return soon to help new readers learn about friendship. This series will not be a secret for long. (Early reader. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews