Howliday Inn, by James Howe (Scholastic Books, Book 2 of 7 Bunnicula* books, 2006, $7.99PB, 244 pp, ages 8-10, grades 3-7) Review by Skye Anderson
Chester the cat and Harold the (shaggy) dog narrator return in Howliday Inn, when their family, the Monroes, goes on vacation without them. They are dropped off at Chateau Bow-Wow where the cages the nine cats and dogs inhabit are referred to as bungalows. Dr. Greenbrier, owner of the kennel, is taking the weekend off, leaving his charges in the hands of that bickering duo, Jill, a veterinary student, and Harrison, a non-college aged human.
Chester is a typical cat, smart and a preener while Harold is a typical dog, rather rambunctious and whose brain would probably not win any races. Harold's narration is hilarious at times and discombobulated at others. It takes the reader nearly to the end of 244 pages to learn what actually happened. In the meantime, perhaps Chester was poisoned, perhaps a dog escapes, perhaps there are werewolves, perhaps . . . .
Writing Style**
Typical of books for this age, Howliday Inn has a host of characters, bordering on that of a long, convoluted Russian epic novel - too many for this adult to keep straight as to who is dog, who is cat, who is human - but readers between 8 and 10 will have no problem. Likewise, the uncertainty of what actually happened does not bother young readers as much as it does their grandmother.
*more than 3 million Bunnicula books are in print since 1979 including The Celery Stalks at Midnight, Rabit-cadabra, Nighty Nightmare, and Dew Drop Inn
**Chapter 6, The Cat Who Knew Too Much, might be thought of as a tribute to the Lilian Jackson Braun cat mystery series, The Cat Who. . . , first penned in 1966.
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