School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-These two beginning readers are based on incidents from the movie Stuart Little, which took its name from the book, but basically that's all. In one story, the little mouse climbs into a vase while hiding from a cat, but then needs the help of the feline to get free. In the second book, Stuart has an adventure with a large fish and a turtle while piloting a toy boat across a park lake. Both are in an accessible, easy-reader format with large type and colorful pictures based on the movie, but they are a poor relation to E. B. White's famous Stuart Little (HarperCollins, 1945). Neither "adventure" is from the original book, so why steal the stars? It is blatant commercialism to take a famous character and a few familiar details (the names of the boat and the cat) and put them in watered-down scenarios. These offerings are a disservice to children's literature and to its readers.-Nancy A. Gifford, Schenectady County Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of the [cf2]Stuart Little[cf1] movie, this easy reader belabors a contrived plot in which Stuart is nearly eaten by Bookworm, the library owl, who was friendly until Stuart exposed his illiteracy. Well-groomed illustrations follow the action, which ends sappily when Stuart secures the owlÆs goodwill by promising to teach him to read. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
