I loved the illustrations for this book but I had a problem with the overall message. One cat poisons another to stop them from singing because they have a horrible voice. What? I don't think it's a good solution to a poor singer - and not so sure I want my kids reading this one. I wouldn't buy it or recommend.

The story of a cat who loves to sing with her broken guitar. Of course the neighbors don't like the off-tuned song. But one clever cat got an idea to fix the problem. It was a good story, and a reminder of doing good deeds to help your community.

Ummmmmmm. No. There is a kitty that loves to sing every night, but they don’t sing well, and it annoys everyone. One night, a black cat poisons the singing cat so she will stop singing for one night only. The following night he gifts her a repaired guitar and an orchestra, and they live happily ever after in cat stardom. It’s the poisoning that I draw a line at. This book is vailed harassment and assault. One cat did something horrible to another cat because they think it was needed and then make everything better. That is a metaphor for going back to an abuser and giving it a happy ending. No thank you.

I am very confused as to why the author thought this would be an example for children. Poison or trick someone into leaving so that you can have peace? This was a big no for me, I wouldn't even let my kids read or look at it. I don't care how cute the illustrations are, if the message isn't there why even publish?

I was excited to get to review this children’s book about cats. THE FULL MOON RUCKUS
by Maja Kutrevac.

A cat loves to sing when the moon comes out unfortunately all the other cats think she sings so horribly that the decide to move away. Except for one cat that tricks the singing one into drinking chalk and it stops her from being able to sing anymore. All the other cats realize she’s no longer singing so the move back and apparently they all live happily ever after.

I shared this with my 8 year old grandson and we both enjoyed the artwork but that was all. The story is not a good example of acceptance for children. It teaches if you are mean enough you can force others to change. I won’t recommend this book to to anyone. 1 star.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the independent publisher for accepting my request to read and review The Full Moon Ruckus.

Author: Maja Kutrevac
Published: 01/17/23
Genre: Children's Fiction | Parenting & Families

Basically this is a miss for me. The story is about a cat who performs badly disturbing all around her. They complain, she continues night after night. She is tricked into getting along, basically.

I am not seeing what prompted the author to write and be excited for this.

The illustrations are okay. I did find the main character, the female cat, to be amazingly human-like, and did find myself admiring the talent.

The Full Moon Ruckus is a silly book about a cat who sings so badly that all of the other cats leave the city. I did enjoy the illustrations and whimsy of this tale. However, the story just didn't work for me. I was a bit confused by the plot choice of Tacticat poisoning Kittydonna with chalk so she could no longer sing, then fixing her guitar for her. I feel like children would be confused by this and I'm not sure how I would explain it as an adult. I feel like there is some sort of lesson kids are supposed to learn but it just didn't come through. Overall, it's not a book I'd buy for my kids.

The illustrations in this story are cartoonish and engaging for little ones, but something is missing in this story. I also was not a fan of the main character being tricked/drugged into losing her voice for a night just so the other character can fix her guitar. Something about that just doesn't work or seem appropriate for young children.

The illustrations are great in this one.

Maybe this story is lost on me or got lost in translation.

I don’t know that this would make a child feel good about themself.

It’s about a cat who doesn’t have a great voice and another cat giving the bad singer a powder so she can’t sing until he can tune he guitar then he allows her to sing again because she suddenly can carry a tune.

This isn’t one I can recommend unfortunately.

Perhaps I’m just not understanding this one.