Review: Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion by Stephen W. Martin

 As promised, I have a second book today...and this one is an explosion of cuteness! The second I read the title and surmise, I had to get my hands on this one. After all, can a person ever have too much cuteness???

Read further and find out!

FLUFFY MCWHISKERS CUTENESS EXPLOSION

by Stephen W. Martin

Illustrated by Dan Tavis

Margaret K McElderry Books

40 pages

ages 4 to 8

COMING...

NOVEMBER 2nd!!!

Friendship is hard for Fluffy, a kitten so precious that anyone who looks at her explodes!

Meet Fluffy—an adorable kitten. So adorable, in fact, that anyone who sees her will spontaneously explode into balls of sparkles and fireworks. KABOOM! Poof.

Poor Fluffy doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, but everything she tries, even a bad haircut, just makes her cuter! So Fluffy runs away someplace no one can find her. Find out if there’s any hope for Fluffy in this funny and subversive story about self-acceptance and finding friendship in unlikely places.

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MY TIDBITS

I'll admit. The idea of creatures exploding does sound rather violent and dismal, but that's a concern to quickly shove aside. This is a quirky, fun, and super cute tale about friendship and learning to like ones self...it's just told in a very different an unexpected way. 

Fluffy is super, amazingly, adorably cute and has a very fitting name. She kind, sweet and friendly, but nobody ever gets that far with her, since they take one glance in her direction and explode into sparkle and fireworks. Very pretty and dynamic but horrible on the friendship end.

A fuzzy ball of fluffiness best describes Fluffy, but it's the reaction others have to her that will make younger readers surprised, giggle and smile...maybe with a bit of raised eyebrows, but laughter is hard to keep in. If Fluffy took joy in this, the tale, obviously, wouldn't work, but in this story, poor Fluffy really isn't okay with this but has no idea how to stop it. She really feels bad about it, wishes it would stop, and takes huge steps to change the situation, which make it pull at the heart strings even more.

It's easy to connect with Fluffy, especially since she really is kind and sweet. But what I really enjoy is that it shows that being marked as 'super' or 'cute' or 'great' doesn't always mean that a person will find great friends. True friendship doesn't work that way, and this tale is a clever, cute way to address that...while building in more than a few funny moments.

And here they are...

Stephen W. Martin is a writer on Frederator’s Bravest Warriors and the writer and director of many acclaimed short films. Stephen is also the author of several picture books, including Charlotte and the Rock and Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion. He currently works as a story editor in film and comic books and lives with his wife in Los Angeles. Visit him at Stephen-W-Martin.com. 

Dan Tavis is illustrator living in New Hampshire. He has been doodling ever since his first math class in elementary school! He is the illustrator of Common Critters and Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion, among other projects. Learn more at DanTavis.com.