Floof by Heidi McKinnon (review)

Reviewed by: Floof by Heidi McKinnon Danica Ronquillo McKinnon, Heidi Floof; written and illus. by Heidi McKinnon. Algonquin, 2024 32p Trade ed. ISBN 9781523525867 15. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 3-5 yrs Floof is a floofy gray cat, and they have many important things to do during the day. Before they begin their favorite activities like reading, gardening, and playing the guitar, they need to fuel up by snatching pancakes and pizza from the table. After that, Floof is busy helping their owner design a productive workspace by lying on their desk and spilling coffee all over the laptop. While Floof makes friends with mice, the kitty make foes with dogs, but Floof doesn't care as "Floof has better things to do, " namely breaking curfew at night to steal a dog's tennis ball and start a ruckus until another busy day awaits in the morning. The short, concise text and minimalistic color illustrations comically oppose each other, stating, for instance, how "Floof has many hobbies, " only to see them sleeping on a stack of books or plucking broken guitar strings. Floof 's floof takes up lots of space in the composition, highlighting a cat's characteristics from different perspectives; scribbly, thick linework makes up Floof 's textured fur and the volume of their fluffy tail, and shaded circles emphasize their delightful toe beans and their curious eyes. The nighttime vignettes have the same lively energy as the daytime vignettes, tracking Floof 's swift movements all around the house from breaking flower vases, bending End Page 290 window blinds, and rolling all the toilet paper in the bathroom. Share this with young cat enthusiasts who have a Floof in their household or neighborhood cat that they know and love. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois