Cats Mimi and Clara are at odds as they tend to their pumpkin patches in preparation for Cat Countys Great Pumpkin Contest. Mimi takes advice from books to produce one giant pumpkin, while Clara grows many beautiful little ones. Ultimately, this mellow autumn tales straightforward text conveys that kindness and teamwork yield the best fruit of all. Playful pastel-toned, mixed-media illustrations reward careful viewers with literary and feline references (I Want My Cat Back; The Power of Meow). A simple pumpkin life-cycle diagram is appended. katie smith September/October 2019 p.52(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

PreS-Gr 1--Sometimes, competition is the perfect seed for growing a new friendship. Mimi and Clara are two cats who could not be more different: while Mimi prefers to sit inside and read quietly by herself, Clara enjoys spending time outside with her friends. When fall comes and the Great Pumpkin Contest begins, however, their goal is one in the same: to win. With two different approaches, it takes one very special decision to bring them together. Illustrations using water-soluble crayons, gouache, and collage craft the background for this story, emphasizing the greens, browns, and oranges of fall. Coupled with short sentences and limited text on each page, the design of the book is accessible to young readers. The endpapers reflect the passage of time, beginning with seedlings and ending with fully-grown pumpkins; they are a direct representation of the growth of the pumpkins and an indirect representation of Mimi and Clara's growing relationship. Though the characters in the story are cats, the tale of emerging friendship is one to which most can relate. Readers will enjoy the surprise ending and the ways through which Clara and Mimi connect. Savvy adults will also notice and appreciate the puns in the titles of the books Mimi reads. VERDICT This is an enjoyable and lighthearted story of friendship and collaboration for young children.--Mary Lanni, formerly of Denver Public Library

Will competition or cooperation win out at the Great Pumpkin Contest?Two very different neighbor cats are each determined to win Cat County's Great Pumpkin Contest. Orange cat Mimi prefers to be indoors and loves to read, although sometimes she wishes for a friend. Gray-and-white Clara prefers the outdoors and likes to garden and to take tea with her friends. The two have different approaches to growing their pumpkins, too. Mimi researches, her efforts leading to the picture-perfect garden, growing a gigantic pumpkin for the contest. Clara takes a looser approach. Her small, perfect pumpkins are scattered in her yard. A high, brick wall separates the two yards, and the two hardly ever interact. In the end, Mimi pays the price for going it alone: Her giant pumpkin falls out of the wheelbarrow and covers everyone in "pumpkin guts." She runs home, mortified. Clara extends the hand of friendship (and one of her pumpkins), and the two make a plan to work together next year. And the contest? Both turn out to be winners. Rozelaar ends the tale with a page showing a simplified life cycle of a pumpkin. Her friendly illustrations are brightly colored and nicely textured, depicting sweater-clad cats with large, round heads and stubby limbs. The anthropomorphic cats' expressive faces evince a wide range of emotions, including amazement, suspicion, and anger. Don't miss the book titles in Mimi's house or her clever fridge magnets.This lesson in cooperation goes down easy. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Camaraderie eclipses rivalry in this mellow autumn tale that introduces "two cats as different as could be." Mimi spends her time indoors, reading and sometimes wishing she had a friend; Clara prefers being outside, tending her garden, and hosting tea parties with her pals. Yet when Cat County's Great Pumpkin Contest rolls around, these neighbors share a common goal: to win a blue ribbon. Rozelaar conveys each feline's personality through her gardening approach: after Mimi reads up on pumpkin growing and methodically plants seeds, her garden yields a gigantic specimen, while Clara cheerfully sprinkles seeds willy-nilly around her yard, growing a bountiful crop of "beautiful little pumpkins." After an accident renders one pumpkin into mush, both characters emerge as equally winning in Rozelaar's winsome mixed-media pictures, which sweetly portray the blossoming of a friendship. Ages 4--8. (July)