Bad Kitty Scaredy-Cat

Bruel’s Bad Kitty is no shrinking violet, but Halloween has left her on edge: an alphabetical parade of frightening trick-or-treaters includes “an intimidating invisible man, a jarring jack-o-lantern, a killer kraken, [and] a loathsome lion.” In a series of manic panels that will be familiar to readers of the previous books, Bruel sends Bad Kitty through the alphabet four times in this outing—a new record?—including a play-by-play of Bad Kitty terrorizing the terrorizers (“She... injured the invisible man, jostled the jack-o-lantern, kicked the kraken, lambasted the lion”). Bruel continues to draw big laughs out of Bad Kitty’s unrepentantly bad behavior while boosting readers’ vocabularies—at least where Halloween costumes, candy, and violent revenge are concerned. Fans will also appreciate the return of Bad Kitty’s sweet-natured foil, Puppy, who still has a knack for catching the ferocious feline off guard. Ages 5–8. (Aug.)