Kitty Sweet Tooth

Kitty Sweet Tooth #1

by Abby Denson, utomaru (Illustrator)

In this adorable and silly graphic novel written for young readers, Kitty Sweet Tooth runs a movie theater that serves up magical (and unpredictable) desserts. Featuring delicious text from author Abby Denson, and bright, colorful illustrations by Utomaru.There’s just one thing Kitty Sweet Tooth loves more than going to movies, and that’s eating delicious desserts. Now that Pop-Pop’s movie theater has fallen on hard times, Kitty decides that only dessert can keep it from closing its doors. With a coat of paint, a tasty new menu, and a lot of hard work, Kitty and her friends transform this ramshackle theater into the Taste-O-Rama, a combination movie house restaurant.At the Taste-O-Rama, special film screenings are paired with custom-made dishes. But when you have a mad scientist and a witch working in the kitchen, recipes can go awry! On opening night, the theater is flooded with magical jelly that grows out of control. How can Kitty Sweet Tooth and her friends save the day?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Fantasy, Comics, Animals, Food, Fiction

96 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 6, 2021

About the author

Cartoonist Abby Denson is the author of Uniquely Japan, the Kitty Sweet Tooth series (illustrated by Utomaru), the fun and fully-illustrated cartoon travel guides, Cool Tokyo Guide and Cool Japan Guide, out from Tuttle Publishing. She is the creator of the graphic novels Dolltopia (which won a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and an International Manga Award) and Tough Love: High School Confidential, which was originally serialized in XY Magazine. She has scripted comics for Amazing Spider-Man Family, Powerpuff Girls Comics, Simpsons Comics, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, Disney Adventures, and comics for Nickelodeon Magazine. She has taught comics classes and workshops at various venues including the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, Sophia University, and Eugene Lang College at The New School.

Reviews

[Maggie Telgenhof · Rating 2 out of 5]

super cute! my favorite dessert and movie combo is the plant one for sure.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is based on an ARC copy provided through NetGalley.

This is a super cute and playful graphic novel aimed at a younger audience. Younger kids will enjoy the drive Kitty has to help save the theater and the silly inventions she and her friends come up with to make it successful. It's super silly and colorful and overall joyous to read. The girl power that this graphic novel envokes is powerful and the characters lean on each other strengths to accomplish their goals.

[Lo Wayward Tomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this a cartoon on out now? It just reminds me of something but I'm out of the kid show loop.

[Christine Bauman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my daughter's aesthetic too a T. Made her so happy I have to give it 5 stars. Love the humor and beautiful images.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonkers. But fun.

Kitty teams up with a misunderstood scientist and witch to save the local movie theater. They match weird food to each movie showing for an unforgettable experience. The food experiments are a little out of control, but the crowd always loves it.

The cover reads very pink and sparkly, but I think it would be fun for everyone.

90 pages. A few sentence of text per page MAX. Very bright and wild illustrations. A little overwhelming if I’m being honest.

[Scoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book!! The colors and details on every page - even every panel! - make this book extra enjoyable to read. I loved the characters and all the silly mishaps they run into trying to make their theater a success. Walter Witch is probably my favorite. All the background characters in the scenes are a blast to look at, too. I love this book!

[Mayumi Shimokawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitty Sweet Tooth is such a fun, imaginative, and entertaining book! I bought this for my nieces who absolutely loved it and are waiting for that a second book come out. I love Abby Denson’s creative storytelling and Utomaru’s beautiful illustrations. Great fun for kids and adults to read, highly recommend!

[Litwithlove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was super cute! My 7 & 8 year old little girls enjoyed it , especially how many cute hidden details there were in the colorful and maximalist world this book is set in. I look forward to reading this series as this book was left off on a To be continued....

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story and art are super cute, but the problem resolution does unfortunately rely heavily on "magic as post-scarcity" in as far as renovations to the theatre and clean-up of the resulting messes—which would normally cost in the thousands if not millions of dollars—are handled by the "male witch" (Walter) reciting a spell or two. That's a common solution in young reader books, so I can't exactly criticise it or anything, but that just strikes me even more heavily here, since it happens EVERY WEEK for them, apparently.

But it IS cute! And, despite her name, Kitty DOES go to the dentist pretty much first thing AND gets a clean bill of tooth health despite her high-sugar diet! And the pages are nice and glossy and can withstand gentle cleaning! (Ask how I know...) The ending is just a cliffhanger set-up for the next book, though, which is a little disappointing, but I don't know what exactly would constitute an "ending" for this kind of story. For the theatre to successfully keep doing what it's doing for six months is great, but that's not a true "ending" since there's no end date on success. In that respect, I also can't criticise it, but it does feel unfinished, regardless.

Still recommended for young readers, especially young cat/dessert/theatre lovers!

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitty helps Pop-Pop come up with a plan to revitalize his old movie theater by making it a dinner theater. She has to gather her courage to go ask the mad scientist and witch on the hill if they will help her develop the menu. But even if they agree, will the new business be a success?

Once Kitty forms a team, the menu items provide unexpected challenges for the business that were a little funny and provided a good additional bit to the plot. I liked those touches and how the classic movies shown were plays on real movies. The text is pretty and plot are simple, making it a great graphic novel for lower grade readers or reluctant middle grade readers. The menu item challenges and characters are fun, and I can see this really appealing to any lower grade reader who loves anything brightly colored. Definitely will have to get this for our elementary library. It’ll probably be constantly checked out.

No content issues.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitty Sweet Tooth loves her sweets (but don't worry, she brushes and flosses her teeth twice a day and gets a stellar report from her dentist too). Just as much as she loves her sweets, she loves movies as well. That's why when the local theatre isn't doing too well and may go out of business, Kitty comes up with an entreprenurial plan to bring it back to life as a gourmet movie house that serves up sweets and movies. With the help of a scientist and a witch, Kitty and her team concoct some crazy magical menus for the theatre.

This was a fun read and the pages are popping with all the bright colors one would imagine a candy store to have. Kitty's team's desserts are really creative and were a fun match to their respective movie titles. This graphic novel was a good mix of cat, fantastical magic from the witch, and crazy experimental candy from the scientist. I think the cover alone would draw cat and candy lovers in.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is going to be doing a Zoom virtual event for the library I work at and I decided to read her book ahead of time since I will probably be attending the event. I really loved this book because there was a focus on science and even has a science experiment to try in the back for kids to do with their adults. Also it almost reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the characters coming up with new and inventive sweets, so it kept me reading to find out what else they were going to invent.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an eARC courtesy of First Second Books & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

WARNING: This book is so colorful you are bound to go into sugar shock! This is not my style of graphic at all, but it is going to appeal to kids. It is absurd. It is playful. It is, at times, cloying. But kids-they will find it silly and hilarious.

For Libraries: Kids will thoroughly enjoy it. Their parents? Probably not. But you should buy it for the kids.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wildly imaginative, subtly gay-tinged graphic novel for children, imbued with Abby Denson's sweet-natured sense of fun. Utomaru's drawings are colorful and beyond adorable. I'd recommend this esp for 8-10 year-olds. Looks like there will be another Kitty Sweet Tooth adventure—I could def see this as a long-running series.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early elementary graphic novel about a kitty cat running her grandfather's movie theater with a special candy themed menu each week. Each experiment gets a little out of hand but pure fun with colorful pictures.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is great and really bright. I found the story a bit rough and repetitive. Probably good for the age group especially as there is so much going on in the illustrations that a younger child would enjoy looking for things. Almost like a hidden puzzle picture.

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute, simple, silly, and full of busy, colorful pages. I like the concept and characters, and I want to try the sweets. Good for children, and starts out reminding them to have good dental hygiene. It came with a candy recipe at the end, too. I look forward to the second book.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A read aloud with my kids! My 4 year old found it at the library and instantly wanted it due to all the bright colors. The story kept her engaged, even if it was a bit repetitive. My 2 year old absolutely loved paging through it and looking at the pictures!

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so so so cute. Kitty Sweet Tooth decides to help at her pop pop’s movie theater and joins forces with a magical mad scientist and witch to create a custom tasting menu to go with movie theme nights. Adorable.

[Amber Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really cute! Loved the illustrations, characters, and plot.

The illustrations drew me in and plot gets your attention, along with the characters.

Very cute and good! Perfect for a little girl, about 5-7 years old. It would be a fun read for her.

[Ellen Quint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between the fun, inventive story and the fantastic graphics, kids will be delighted with Kitty Sweet Tooth. The details in the pictures will have kids pouring over them.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super poppy, peppy, and upbeat! The colors are dazzling. I don't know if I'd eat all of these treats, but they'd sure be fun to play with!

[Alissa BC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really sweet, fun, irresistible little graphic novel for young readers. Will be looking for more in the series.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it strange, but then again I'm an adult. I enjoyed the illustrations; colorful and active. I think children will really enjoy it.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and sweet!!

[LibraryKath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations, but it has about as much substance as a bag of sherbert! Not much real story or character development. But very pretty.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable!

[Adina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book my daughter picked off the graphic novel shelf at our local library. Original and fun with great characters and art style. Just right for a precocious five-year-old reader!

[Karrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are very kawaii-cute and bright! I like the candy recipe at the end. The story was fun.

[Haylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute.