ALA Booklist

If you thought Ballet Cat's first adventure was funny, you are in for a real treat here. After all, what's funnier than underpants? As in The Totally Secret Secret (2015), Ballet Cat, drawn all in pink, has recruited a friend to dance with her. This time it's all-yellow Butter Bear, who really loves pointing her toes ("Pointing toes is classy") but can't be persuaded to leap. As far as Ballet Cat is concerned, this is outrageous behavior ("Super-high leaps are what make ballet so much fun"). But Butter Bear will not be persuaded, making all sorts of excuses, until Ballet Cat forces the truth out of her: Butter Bear is afraid to leap because people might see her underpants. It retains all the deadpan humor and entertaining monochromatic illustrations of the first installment, but this has even more read-aloud appeal: the chorus of "UNDERPANTS! UNDERPANTS!" will certainly delight young listeners. Terrifically fun, and we can only hope that Ballet Cat has many friends still waiting to make an appearance in her books.

School Library Journal (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

PreS-Gr 2 Ballet Cat wants all of her friends to love ballet as much as she does. In this second book in the series, Butter Bear seems to be a willing participant. That is, until Ballet Cat asks Butter Bear to do some superhigh leaps. Then suddenly Butter Bear comes up with a lot of excuses not to do the leaps at all. When the excuses reach a new high of ridiculousness, Ballet Cat finally clues in to what's really going on. When Butter Bear confesses her worry, it involves one final funny surprise. As in The Totally Secret Secret (Disney, 2015), Ballet Cat's love of dance blinds her to her friends' trepidations. Ballet Cat continues to insist on the leaps as Butter Bear throws obstacles in her waycereal, ice pops, hibernation. This book has the quirky humor that readers have learned to expect from Shea. And he finds a clever way to combine this humor with the other qualities new readers need to succeed. Each page has solid, bright colored backgrounds. The backgrounds help the dialogue bubbles pop, and the bubbles themselves are colored so that readers can identify the speaker and follow the flow of the story. VERDICT Another fun addition to the series that readers will love. Susan E. Murray, formerly at Glendale Public Library, AZ

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Dance diva Ballet Cat (The Totally Secret Secret) returns, again paired with a reluctant partner/friend. Ballet Cat gamely accommodates her pal's concerns...at first. When Butter Bear resorts to stalling tactics, normally sunny Ballet Cat cracks. The characters' pas de deux is choreographed on solid-color backgrounds with a minimum of props, giving new readers a leg up on the energetic and funny speech-bubble text.