School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Another installment about the members of the Club of Mysteries, a group of cats that occasionally leave their comfortable homes to meet in an old garage for companionship and adventure. This time, Carlotta brings her five kittens to the clubhouse and asks her friends to help her protect them and teach them useful skills before they set out on their own. With no prior parenting experience, the other felines are put to the test with the handful of squirmy, hungry, and astoundingly adorable kittens. This story is filled with love, danger, and humor, and has a satisfying ending. These characters may, in fact, be cats, but each one will have a voice and a face in readers' minds. Even though they can converse with one another, humans cannot understand them, giving the book a realistic flavor. A few black-and-white illustrations show the endearing characters interacting. Similar to Dick King-Smith's Martin's Mice (Crown, 1988) and Bill Wallace's Upchuck and the Rotten Willy (Minstrel, 1998), this story will appeal to fans of animal tales.-Sharon R. Pearce, Geronimo Public School, OK (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this third installment in the Club of Mysteries series, a follow-up to The Grand Escape and The Healing of Texas Jake, the feline heroes must protect the titular litter and find them homes. Ages 7-10. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When Carlotta reappears with five kittens, the five male members of the Club of Mysteries try to teach the kitties some of the basics of cat behavior--leaping, hunting, and foraging for food--while protecting them from enemies. After close encounters with a dog, junkyard cats, and Carlotta's owner, who doesn't want the kittens, the club renews its efforts to find the little ones a good home. This is a lighthearted addition to the series. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this third of a series, Marco, Polo, and the other feline members of the Club of Mysteries take it upon themselves to protect the much-loved Carlottas five kittens from the dangers posed by both four-legged and two-legged predators, and to teach the kittens the skills they will need to survive in the cold, cruel world. And cruel it is. There is a continuous stream of dire warnings of peril and graphic descriptions of terrible deaths that may befall them. Even a discussion of the lifecycle of stars concludes that all we see are the ghosts of dead stars. This book is almost unrelentingly depressing. Life is real; life is earnest! Strangely, in the midst of all this reality, there is an incongruously cute and fanciful explanation of cats procreation. At the end all the kittens jump into the yard of an old-age home and are instantly adopted. This surprisingly happy conclusion is entirely at odds with the tone of the book and Naylor seems to present it as an effort to reassure or placate the young reader. Black ink drawings aptly depict the action, concentrating on the darker moments. Here, too, the last illustration of the happy ending is quite different in tone and style from all the others. A disappointing effort from a usually dependable author. (Fiction. 9-11)
Booklist Review
Gr. 3^-6. This third offering in the Club of Mysteries series finds the male members of the club all assisting the she-cat, Carlotta, with her five new kittens. At first, they concentrate their efforts on feeding Carlotta and keeping her location a secret from the neighborhood bullies. Later, they help to teach the youngsters survival skills (Marco teaches reading; Polo, leaping; Texas Jake, hunting; and Elvis, singing), and find them a permanent home. As in the earlier titles, Naylor provides readers with plenty of adventure (including encounters with the gang's archenemies, Bertram the Bad and Steak Knife) before the kittens are safely delivered to their new residence, a home for the elderly. An added bonus are the humorous lyrics to some of Elvis' many lullabies. Give this to cat lovers and fans of the popular series. --Kay Weisman
