School is not for cats-much to the chagrin of Skippyjon Jones. Taking on his Chihuahua persona, Skippito Friskito, he boards the bus (via the closet) bound for Barker Academy. At school, slobbery dogs eat crayons and glue, sleep on desktops, and howl in music class. Like its predecessors, this adventure jumps manically between prose and rhyming verse, all dotted with Spanish (and Spanish-ish) words, as Skippyjon works up the courage to face the school's "woolly bully," who turns out to be a teacup Chihuahua. Skippyjon's world is as off-kilter, high-energy, and irreverent as ever. Audio CD included. Ages 3-up. (July)

K-Gr 3 Skippyjon Jones and his kindle of kitty sisters are back again in this rollicking tale. Despite being a smart Siamese, the feline longs to join his "Chi-wa-la" friends at school. Mama Junebug warns him "School is for the Dogs!"who are "unruly and drooly"which is exactly the kind of atmosphere he relishes. Skippy's extraordinary imagination transports him to dog school where he enjoys being the star student in all his classes, including French. But the real challenge is in confronting the savage "bull-ito," a tiny terror that spins around the school in a teacup. A banana is the unlikely key to calming the savage beast. Typical of Schachner's style, the book has hilarious songs, wild antics, a smattering of Spanish words, and humor that everyone can appreciate. The zany illustrations add to its exuberant nature. Children will enjoy the amusing details on each page. As with the earlier books, this one makes for a wonderful read-aloud that will have young audiences laughing out loud.— Jasmine L. Precopio, Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh, PA

That irrepressible, big-eared Siamese cat with an identity complex is back, this time desperate to go to school just like the dogs. Luckily, Skippyjon Jones has an imagination to match his ears and a Spanish vocabulary to go with the "Chi-wa-la" he sees in the mirror. While his mother and sisters tidy up the house, he heads to his closet, backpack on, to board the school bus. His amigos, Los Chimichangos, are already aboard and ask for his help with the school bully. Before sorting him out, though, Skippito attends some classes—art, music, math, library and French. It's while the gang is skipping obedience class that they finally run into the "wooly bull-ito." A quick change transforms Skippyjon into El Skippito Friskito, and he leads the charge. Schachner is a genius when it comes to tongue-in-cheek humor, which she carries through both the rhyming verses scattered throughout the text and the acrylic, pen and ink artwork. The busy illustrations will amuse children and adults alike as they pore over the humorous details. Skippito's Spanish-laden verses are characteristically broken; his fans won't mind, but readers in search of authentic Latino representations should look elsewhere.  Children will find much to laugh at in Skippyjon's latest adventure, and although much of the wordplay will go over kids' heads, adults who are asked for repeated readings will appreciate it. (Picture book. 5-8)

In this outing, the Siamese cat (who's convinced that he's a Chihuahua) disobeys his mother and goes to school. Between the font changes, periodic rhymes, Spanish words, song lyrics, dudes, and other stabs at humor, this manically illustrated book is a visual and textual ambush. A CD of the story read by the author is included.