Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the ARC of The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour. This book gives me Mary Poppins vibes but instead of an umbrella she has a tablecloth that turns into a balloon to take her on her adventures and she has 16 cats! Such a fun read that includes illustrations to match.

The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels brings Miss Petitfour back on the scene in her second book with her tablecloth that serves as a balloon and her sixteen cats. In a Mary Poppins meets Amelia Bedelia kind of story, she travels with the cats line up as her companions flying through the sky to many unusual adventures. Each chapter includes a different tale with all of them lace with wordplay – rhymes, puns, synonyms, homonyms, and highlighted words that will have accompanying definitions. It is a book particularly suited to cat lovers and classrooms for the learning opportunities.

I can't believe it's almost been 7 years since I read the first book of adventures about Miss Petitfour and her (16? I think?) cats. This follow-up book oozes coziness, and every story starts with telling the reader what season it takes place in. The author then builds the setting around that; a perfect spring wind, a crisp fall day with pumpkins dotting the hillside; a cold winter night with ice covered branches "sparkling in the moonlight". Each story has a touch of whimsy. Miss Petitfour travels the countryside with her cats by way of tablecloth, which she uses as a parachute to bring her from one place to another. The inhabitants of the village are charming and mostly memorable.

The story sprinkles in lessons on wordplay. It explains rhymes, homonyms, synonyms, homophones and more, and uses a clever highlighting technique to call attention to the words when needed. These stories could have some limited use in a classroom setting, but I'm not sure if they'll draw in your average upper elementary/middle school reader, and the language is too advanced for most early readers. I do think this collection of stories would make excellent an read-aloud at home for the right kid- especially kids who like a more relaxed, low stakes story like The Vanderbeekers or for kids who just love cats.

My one small complaint is with the third story, which featured my favorite season (fall! Hurray!) but was riddled with incredibly long names for every character who was running in the fall relay race. I ended up skimming a lot of the chapter because my brain just couldn't handle all those long names (one after another, after another) all strung together like that. It made my head hurt.

I do hope Miss Petitfour and her cats (especially Minky!) go on more adventures. This is definitely a book we'll add to our collection here at the library, if only because we're all typical cat lovers here.

Added bonus: the illustrations are super cute!

This book is quite cute, in an old fashioned Mary Poppins kind of way.

The artwork is delightful. Watercolor, bright and pastel, and gentle.

The story is fun and adventurous without getting obnoxious. Remember classic children's literature? This book is a delightful nod to those.

Her cats are my favorite characters! 🐱 And some of their antics call to mind Alice in Wonderland.

And the bygone language is quaint and delightful! "Well, what a hootenanny, what hoopla, what merriment! Above the village, floating on a breeze of summery loveliness, Mr. Coneybeare's eyes shone with joy." (80)

With her sixteen cats and her eccentric neighbors, Miss Petitfour is off on another set of whirlwind adventures. Full of fun and over the top antics, we loved these stories, especially since they featured my son's favorite animals. The cats each have their own playful personalities and Miss Petitfour is like a cross between Mary Poppins and Amelia Bedelia. This book is full of word play, and funny aside comments, making it a delightful read for a variety of ages. And the illustrations were absolutely charming. Fun story for kids in the 7-11 year age range.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This is quite fun tale. I love how many cats that Miss Petitfour has and how they each have such a distinct personality that comes to play on all her different adventures. This book has original Mary Poppin vibes, but I love how it is its own unique spin. The fact that she has a tablecloth for every season, just means she is very much one of my people. The only thing that I can see with this book is this one of those books you really have to find the right reader for. The word play alone makes this a book that would be better geared towards a higher end reader. I do apricate when a word that kid might not know is used a lot of time there are descriptions that help the reader figure out what it means in that context. Overall, this is a fun book, one though that I might not recommend unless a kid enjoys this type of story.

The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour. I loved the cats involvement in the story and their adventure. I loved that the reader can learn new words while reading the book.

Super cute and fun children’s book! As a lover of cats, my daughter thoroughly enjoyed this book and I loved reading it with her. Serious Mary Poppins vibes and fun all around!

This is fun children's book that has beautiful illustrations. It's a cute story that makes you think of Mary Poppins with cats. It's a fun read that would make a great gift.
I received a complimentary copy from Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The children enjoyed this book but we're a bit concerned about the cats welfare (yes we know it's not real , but 16 ?). My youngest grandchild could not settle into the book for worrying about who was looking after them all properly. Cruelly ,this interruption only seemed to add to the story for the older children. Nice illustrations too.

In the vein of Mary Poppins, this is an adorable story for young children, filled with whimsy and cuteness that is sure to appeal to any child.

The whimsical illustrations are worth five stars, but something is not quite right about all the words. There are too many of them and (I can't believe I am saying this) too many cats. It is difficult to enjoy the cats as individuals with sixteen of them. I guess Miss Petitfour (rhymes with confetti store) needs that many to help her fly? It was fun to fly around on adventures with Miss P and her cats and the vocabulary/word play is entertaining. I just felt like the stories were too wordy.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

The pastel illustrations made for a charming book. I enjoyed the characters, the premise was sweet, and I enjoyed the way in which the author helps children to understand words through strong definitions and examples. I struggled to stay engaged with the long lists (for example, the cat names), which made some of the stories feel tedious to read through.

Overall, the book was charming, and I appreciate the advanced copy. Thank you to Anne Michaels, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley.

This was so precious! Adorable cover. Sweet story ~ mix of cats and magic and all around book-fun! Would make a great holiday gift book for special younger loved ones.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour is darling! The chapter lengths are perfect for emerging readers. Miss Petitfour's cats are going to get kids laughing. I adored how certain words were highlighted with explanations. The adventures are also perfect for young readers. This book is sweet and will be well loved. I highly recommend this for middle graders.

Sweet world building, characters you want to be your best friends, and just a slight hope of being able to live a life like this yourself one day, that’s what this book is about.

Loads of cute details, both in the text and the drawings.

Perfect book for animal friends or wordplay lovers, or just for anyone wanting to read about lovely adventures with amazing illustrations.

This was a cute book. The illustrations were wonderful. The long lists of things and the definitions of words throughout the book took me out of the story.

I loved the art style and the characters. The pastel palette, all the cats, and the quirky protagonist are super cute

Absolutely loved the first Miss Petitfour and this one was even better! Lovely seasonal stories with adorable artwork and I would love to own these in my personal library.

While the Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour is the second book, you do not need to read the first book to understand what is happening, however it might help a little.

I like Miss Petitfour and her interesting travel method (by tablecloth balloon and the wind) and her cats are adorable and so helpful. I enjoyed book one, it was quirky and fun, book 2 fell a little flat for me but I am only one adult reader.

In this installment, Miss Petitfour helps her friends and neighbors and goes on more adventures with her numerous cat companions. The book takes priority in defining and explaining vocabulary works which is very nice and educational but it was hard to keep focused on the story at times because of it.

Much of what I had issue with during this read, was that there were a lot of descriptions, to the point of a run-on, jumbled, mess or words that by the time you got to the point, you almost forgot what you were trying to read about in the first place. It is even a little difficult to pinpoint the main audience for the book. It seems like a middle grade read, but is very wordy, like I mentioned and it might put younger readers off. I personally found myself skimming past some of the descriptions to get directly to the point, but didn't make me feel good.

Overall, the character of the book, Miss Petitfour, is delightful and the story is super cute. And if you like cats, she has SO many of them that are decribed in wonderful detail. However, if you have trouble focusing and reading already, this might be a very difficult book to read, it was for me.