Another fantastic edition of Breaking Cat News. ( )

Pucky, Prince of Bacon is the sixth book in the Breaking Cat News comic strip reprints. This one opens with a situation from What Doctor Spock Didn't Tell Us: A Survival Kit For Parents by B. M. Atkinson, Jr. It's a humorous book of
conditions the child has but only the parents suffer. If I remember correctly, the condition illustrated here is called 'potty arm'.

The next adventure shows why one should clip one's cat's claws. That's followed by the family's New Year's Eve celebration and the days after. Puck's resolution leads to a change the cats aren't happy with.

The cats try to explain the rainbows on the wall. Puck tries again to prove to Elvis that the mailman exists. Cleaning the litter box causes issues for Elvis. The woman's sister's visit grants the reader a chance to see photos of Elvis as a kitten. (Elvis reacts much as a teen would if his mother were showing off photos of him as a baby.)

I had to laugh at the Saga of the Second Breakfast. (We have a little magnet with a dog biscuit on a few links of chain attached that sticks to the metal kibble canister. The main part of the magnet read 'Our pet is'. One side of the dog biscuit reads 'fed' and the other 'not fed'. So long as we remember to turn it, our cats' shameless acting fails.)

Learn about cat whiskers before we move on to the wrappers left from the valentine candy box adventure. The spider in the apartment is followed by the attempts to give the baby son mashed food. (Eek)

A new item for the baby leads to the cats explaining the mysterious properties of packing peanuts. An attempt to photograph the cats gets them to talk about ancient Egypt. Easter doings are reported.

For wrestling fans, there's the BCW (Best Cat Wrestling) segment on pages 69-74. This time Tommy has his own costume. The contest is still between Elvis and Lupin, though.

Elvis, Puck, and Lupin are indoor cats. Tommy, as the cat about town correspondent, is the one reporting about the signs of spring. I enjoyed what he called the caterpillars going past him. Tommy's woman and Sophie, her other cat, are in a panel here.

There's a visit from the Girl Scouts involving cookies and another product. Will the woman resist? That's followed by the vacuum cleaner doing something the cats consider unspeakable. Next is a short bit about planting trees.

Then it's back to the vacuum cleaner, as the cats plot to kill it. Will it work?

Oh, no - the baby boy's favorite toy, a plush penguin called 'Pengo" goes missing. He can't sleep without Pengo.

The woman is pregnant again and having trouble getting out of the tub.

Fluffasaurus Rex and Kidzilla's face-off is repeated here. It's still cute.

Groan as the cats do their best to make sure the man will sleep well before his important interview the next day. Thrill as Puck explains the British murder mystery he and the woman are watching to Lupin.

The woman gives birth to the girl (tastefully off panel, of course). Elvis' reaction to this baby is quite the contrast to his reaction when her big brother was brought home. (Don't miss Puck mangling the old rhyme about what little girls are made of.) Tommy shows up to play 'furry godmother' and makes a wish for the girl.

For the 4th of July celebration, Puck sings a parody of the chorus from "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land".

On p. 163 we learn that the man is a video editor. The cats are doing their best to decorate his clothes before he leaves.

Louie the skunk from book one, Breaking Cat News, is back. Elvis does not like being reminded of how Louie sprayed him when he sneaked out on the back porch last spring. No one got sprayed this time, but the windows are closed because Louie got startled again. I really liked Puck's description of the smell.

The older baby has been promoted to toddler. I'm glad his mother reads to him. (I must admit that I liked the way the Man explained away his napping with three cats when he got a phone call.)

As with the earlier books, this one is filled with cats being cats. House plants beware! Flossing is not safe with cats as witnesses.

The man does a loving act for his wife and repairs her Nana Dee Dee's cuckoo clock. Only Lupin, who is deaf, is unfazed by that noisy little bird.

Bacon comes up in the last adventure of the book. Yum... bacon.

This book's 'More to Explore' section covers pages 193 - 203. Instead of paper dolls, this time its drawings of the three BCN cats that can be colored. If you loved Lupin as a space cat, that's one of them!

I hope I've given enough of an idea of the contents to help fans figure out if a favorite storyline is included.

There are so many stories from the strip that I want to see reprinted. Luckily, it appears that some of them will be in the next book, Everything's Coming Up Beatrix, due out September 5, 2023! ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/m8eddxNkCP4

Enjoy! ( )

I don’t pretend to have the slightest bit of objectivity when it comes to Breaking Cat News: it is easily my favourite comic strip and I have bought and will buy anything Georgia Dunn decides to publish, the moment it is available. This is the sixth book compiling the BCN comic strips, and includes such wonderful bits as the moment when Puck discovers that the dreaded vacuum cleaner is - gasp! - also a Mom (to a dust buster) and Elvis’s bonding with the new Baby. Ms. Dunn bases her strip on her own family, including three cats (Lupin, Elvis and Puck - actually, there’s a fourth cat now, Goldie, but she doesn’t appear in this book) and imagines what kinds of events three indoor cats would find newsworthy if they had a cable news station. Puck is my favourite of the cats (shhh - don’t tell Elvis or Lupin!), so I’m especially happy with this book as it features him more than the others, but as I said, I will buy any BCN material I can get. Comes with several pages at the back with drawings of the various cats that your youngster (or yourself) can colour. Clearly, very highly recommended! ( )

Smiles, snorts and laughs...along with a few, thoughtful sighs...are guaranteed thanks to this feline newscast and their very-close-to-home coverage.

This book follows the beloved BCN gang and allows Pucky to stand on center stage. Of course, it's not just about this wonderful cat, but the entire crew is ready to bring across every bit of breaking news, which hits their family's lives. And these are so familiar that it hits home in all the most sweet and funny ways.

Cat fans will love the antics of these pets and shake their heads and the very odd, yet familiar situations they discover of find themselves in. Parents will have no problem feeling for the human family as they deal with the events of daily life and all the unexpected moments having a baby adds to the mix. Even young readers will find the quirky and ridiculous experiences silly and wish they had such a cat report team in their own house. So this read offers silliness and humor on many different levels and for quite a large crowd.

The illustrations are spot on. Since this is my first time running across this bunch, I was surprised at the original style, but it very quickly won me over. There's such a playful atmosphere, which allows the fantasy to flow in with cartoon appeal...which is great since these jokes slide very tight with reality, otherwise. It adds the right separation to let the reader experience the entire thing with a fun distance and laugh at situations.

As an extra bonus, there are several pages at the end, which invite readers to color the characters themselves. In other words, there is ton to love in these pages. I received a DRC and enjoyed this bunch of cats quite a bit. ( )