ALA Booklist (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2020)

In support of the notion that every obstacle is an opportunity, Jeremy the cat soon discovers that the clear cone that has been put around his head may bend his whiskers and make it impossible to lick himself t it turns out to be a grand receptacle for spilled cereal, furniture stuffing, and even, wowza, dropped ice cream. He's even a little wistful when it's finally removed: "Will anything ever compare to my glory days with the Cone?" Unfortunately, he doesn't get much chance to find out, as one wild romp around the house later he finds himself with a cast around one paw and the cone reattached. Though readers may wonder why Jeremy had to wear the cone in the first place (there's no sign of the surgery or injury that usually calls for such a measure in Mok's tidy, spacious, cat-centered domestic scenes), they'll applaud the resourceful ways he turns it to unintended uses. Here's a worthy companion for Nick Bruel's Bad Kitty, Jack Gantos' Rotten Ralph, and other perversely lovable feline bad behavers.

Kirkus Reviews

After awakening at the vet's wearing a cone, a cat discovers it holds advantages.A period of disgruntled adjustment finds Jeremy "knocking into doorjambs and backing his way down the stairs with all the grace of a fat squirrel." He unsuccessfully engages in usual pursuits: spider-stalking, "redecorating" (i.e., un-stuffing the couch), and hiding from "little human" Ava. Fortuitously, during Jeremy's tabletop encounter with Ava's breakfast leftovers, the cone catches the bowl's edge, tipping Fruity O's and milk into both Jeremy's mouth and cone-a snack "for later!" Jeremy's conical capers culminate at Ava's birthday party, where he joins a line of children waiting for ice cream. Ava's distracted dad plops a scoop right onto Jeremy's head-and into that catchall cone. Naturally, the day of liberation soon arrives, when "one of the tall humans" whisks the cone away. Resuming his usual antics, Jeremy wonders if anything will rival his "glory days with the Cone." The answer comes immediately, in a mishap involving a fly, a potted houseplant, and the draperies. A last illustration delivers the visual punchline: Cone Cat's back, sporting a bandaged forepaw. Howden's wry telling is matched by Mok's simple pastel illustrations, accented with red and gold. Children appear with varied skin tones and hair textures, uniformly D-shaped mouths, and dot eyes. Ava presents Asian.This amusing, essentially one-joke tale should resonate with cat-loving kids and families. (Picture book. 3-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Jeremy the cat has a cone around his neck courtesy of the vet (the cause is not specified), which has turned him into a shadow of his former nimble, sneaky self. -Now he was knocking into doorjambs and backing his way down the stairs with all the grace of a fat squirrel,- writes author Howden (5-Minute Amazing Animal Stories), striking a tone of haughty weariness. -He didn-t smell so good either.- But you can-t keep an imperious feline down for long: Jeremy discovers that the cone can actually function as a useful funnel, holding bits of food he manages to scrounge (including ice cream from a birthday party), and, in one of the funniest illustrations, an entire cushion-s worth of stuffing. Pared-down vignettes by Mok (Grandmother-s Visit)