Cybils nominee: Easy Readers. Nominated by Maria Ciccone at The Serpentine Library.

Cynthia Rylant has published twenty Mr. Putter & Tabby books with this latest adventure, Mr. Putter & Tabby Ring the Bell. If I were a first grade teacher or librarian at an elementary school, I’d buy all twenty, line them up on an accessible shelf and watch the books fly off the shelf. And I’d watch the smiles and the laughter. And the soaring reading abilities and enjoyment.

In Mr. Putter & Tabby Ring the Bell the fall weather reminds Mr. Putter of school, and Mr Putter waxes nostalgic for the sight of erasers and pencils and globes and schoolrooms. Mr. Putter then has an idea: why not take Tabby and go to school for show-and-tell? Of course, Mr. Putter’s neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry and her pet, Zeke, a rather disreputable-looking dog, tag along. But what ae they to do when the first grade teacher expects Tabby and Zeke to do tricks for the first graders?

My favorite character in this story was Zeke the dog. Zeke is the kind of dog who wears a half of a stolen cake on his head. Then he eats it. He loves banana cake. He also eats a whole tray of cupcakes. Zeke’s tongue hangs out a lot, and he probably drools. And he learns a new trick—all in the course of a forty-four page easy reader.

If you already know and love Mr. Putter and Taby (and Zeke), this book is a worthy addition to the canon. If not, Mr. Putter and Tabby Ring the Bell would be a great introduction to a great series.

Z-baby: “Mr Putter wants to go to school even though he’s really old. I don’t know why.”

*This book is nominated for a Cybils Award, and I am a judge for the first round thereof. However, no one paid me any money, and nobody knows which books will get to be finalists or which ones will get the awards. In other words, this review reflects my opinion and Z-baby’s and nothing else.