Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Hall cleverly plays with homophones in this diverting word adventure. Three curious cats, propelled by their imaginations, bring books to life as they traverse spacious, white spreads. Together they "flee a steer," "steer a plane," "plane a board" and "board a train." Each sentence or scenario offers hints of what's to come. Discerning compositions and a rhyming text further drive the momentum until, alas! The words' many meanings confound these friendly felines. Humorous permutations ensue as the kitties try to untangle their tales. After they successfully "shoo a truly naughty gnu," (it's munching shoes--truly naughty indeed!), things go sadly awry. "They use their paws to rock a squashberry! Rock a squashberry?" Once back on track, they befriend a bear, sail a whale and ultimately find comfort and contentment in words. Digitally collaged illustrations with appealing characters pop from the page. The artwork, simple in its appearance yet interwoven with the text with utmost sophistication, playfully offers the easiest and funniest lesson on homophones possible, inviting repeat readings and likely inspiring continuing silliness. Smart and accessible, charming and witty, this is one for educators and adventurers alike. (Picture book. 3-5)

ALA Booklist

A cover illustration of three cats with their tails intertwined ushers readers into this rather peculiar little ditty. The three cats in question, Lillian, Tilly, and William J., set off on a string of nonsense adventures that each incorporate a word used in the previous action: "They flee a steer. / They steer a plane. / They plane a board. / They board a plane." This rises to a downright frenzy of wordplay, leading our feline trio to jumble up their words and become giddily confused: "They use their paws to shoo a train. A shoo-shoo train? No!" The colorfully geometric characters will involve students in discovering similar word pairs and discerning the difference between homonyms and homophones. Read-alouds, like the book itself, should devolve into ridiculous shenanigans. Though perhaps not to the level of My Heart Is like a Zoo (2010) and Perfect Square (2011), this nonetheless will be welcome in plenty of classrooms.

Horn Book

Hall plays with homonyms ("They flee a steer. / They steer a plane") in this witty rhyming story about three cats on silly adventures "from word to word." The text and antics start out simple--until "the words are jumbled! / They've lost their way"; the buildup is played out humorously in the textured, blocky illustrations in vivid colors on white backgrounds.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Hall cleverly plays with homophones in this diverting word adventure. Three curious cats, propelled by their imaginations, bring books to life as they traverse spacious, white spreads. Together they "flee a steer," "steer a plane," "plane a board" and "board a train." Each sentence or scenario offers hints of what's to come. Discerning compositions and a rhyming text further drive the momentum until, alas! The words' many meanings confound these friendly felines. Humorous permutations ensue as the kitties try to untangle their tales. After they successfully "shoo a truly naughty gnu," (it's munching shoes--truly naughty indeed!), things go sadly awry. "They use their paws to rock a squashberry! Rock a squashberry?" Once back on track, they befriend a bear, sail a whale and ultimately find comfort and contentment in words. Digitally collaged illustrations with appealing characters pop from the page. The artwork, simple in its appearance yet interwoven with the text with utmost sophistication, playfully offers the easiest and funniest lesson on homophones possible, inviting repeat readings and likely inspiring continuing silliness. Smart and accessible, charming and witty, this is one for educators and adventurers alike. (Picture book. 3-5)

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

Three cats-euphoniously named Lillian, Tilly, and William J.-try to keep up with some fast-moving wordplay as Hall (Perfect Square) explores verbal puns. The sturdy text is reinforced by blocky illustrations that picture each scene clearly (a necessity given the potential for confusion) and leavened with plenty of humor. Each line ends with a solid, gratifying thump: -They flee a steer./ They steer a plane./ They plane a board./ They board a train.- A huge, blue steer sends the cats dashing into a blobby purple plane. -They plane a board- explains the verb -to plane- with vivid red curls of wood; two cats do carpentry while the third cat talks to a duck in a cap, who turns out to be the driver of the train they board. Even when things break down (-They use a box to steer a steer? No, no, no!-) the puns are never stilted, and Hall-s simple forms and bright colors only complement the verses- compelling rhythm. It-s a wacky and thought-provoking read-aloud, one that-s likely to become a favorite. Ages 2-5. Agent: Anna Olswanger, Liza Dawson Associates. (Sept.)

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

Gr 1-3 Hall's book of wordplay featuring homophones and homonyms is deceptively simple in appearance but sophisticated in concept. Appealing graphic-style illustrations, printed in brightly colored, textured acrylics on paper cutouts, are set against a white background; geometric shapes can be found in most cutouts and in the shaded painted areas. The story follows three cats-Lillian, Tilly, and William J.-as they set off on a nonsensical word-based adventure. The rhymed text is written in short sentences printed in extra-large type. Nevertheless, in many instances the rapid change in meaning from one homophone to the next presupposes that readers will recognize the difference in each pair of words. For example, "They choose a spot./They spot some ewes./They use a box/to hide from bees./They do their best/to box some fleas." In the midst of the silliness, the cats lose direction, stumbling through even more nonsense in order to get back on track, which allows Hall to demonstrate how he creates the links from one homophone to another. This instructive tale may be more useful in a classroom setting than as a read-aloud. Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH