Frank and the bad surprise by Martha Brockenbrough, illustrated by Jon Lau

I'm of two minds about this quirky little beginning chapter book. Frank, a sleek black tuxedo cat is very upset when his humans bring home a box - with a puppy! The puppy annoys Frank until he is put in "jail" and his humans forget to let him out for a whole afternoon. Frank determines to run away and find another home, but the outside world is not so kind to a supercilious cat and he eventually returns home, soaked and miserable, to discover the puppy is not so bad after all.

Lau's illustrations are slick and modernistic, with sleek lines and sharp angles. This is an illustrated chapter book, with color illustrations scattered about the pages of Frank's ball, the keyboard he writes letters on, and small inset pictures of Frank's interactions with the puppy, his humans, and the great outdoors.

The text has the choppy rhythm and short sentences of an easy reader, "This was not fair. But it was the way of the world. Just when you think you've got it good, someone brings home a puppy. Frank shook his head. Then he set off." A few years ago, the colored illustrations would have been more common in easy readers as well, but there are now a significant number of illustrated early chapter books in color. The dry humor reminded me of another transitional easy reader, Nate the Great, and the new dog/puppy in the home is a familiar theme. Frank's two humans are somewhat androgynous in appearance, leaning towards male with short hair and slim builds and one has brown skin.

Verdict: On the one hand, this is a familiar theme and there are lots of similar books, like Dori Hillestad Butler's Dear Beast and Suzanne Selfors' Wedgie and Gizmo. On the other hand, I am needing more and more easy chapter books and the dry humor will attract the older kids who are working through these easier books, so I think it's worth adding to my collection.

ISBN: 9781646140886; Published April 2022 by Levine Querido; Borrowed from another library in my consortium