The Bakers: Babies And Kittens

The Bakers #2

by Kyle Baker

After a humiliating defeat at the hands of a mouse, Dad is covered in glue traps. Mom & the kids adopt a cat against Dad's wishes and hide it from him. Dad doesn't catch on for days. Baby Jackie demonstrates 15 wrong ways to pick up a cat, then suddenly discovers she's been replaced as the center of her big sister's attention! It's all-out war between the jealous baby and the fuzzy kitten, and no Baker is safe! In this episode, Eisner Award winning Kyle Baker blows the needle off the cute meter!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor

96 pages, Hardcover

First published February 20, 2007

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Kyle John Baker is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series Plastic Man.
Baker has won numerous Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards for his work in the comics field.

Reviews

[Aidan Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, breezy read that feels like an update to Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry. You can clearly tell that Baker has a history in animation as his sense for conveying motion and design consistency make the art shine!

[Mjhancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 4, but with a caveat. It's very much a "what you see is what you get" kind of story; it promises kittens and babies, and it rewards with adorable renditions of kittens and babies. Baker's cartoonish style fits the book's tone very well, and he does an excellent job in portraying physical comedy--not the easiest thing to accomplish in a comic medium. It is, however, a very light book, in terms of actual size, tone, and depth. You could easily breeze through it in under 15 minutes. It would, however, be a very enjoyable and entertaining 15 minutes, and you would finish the book with a smile on your face over the sheer goofiness of the family life Baker's portraying. Whether such fare is worth the $20 cover charge (hardcover edition) is a choice I leave to the reader's discretion.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liz and the kids decide to get a cat against Kyle's wishes. I prefer Baker's older work; this one is clearly more for his kids (and other youngsters) with its slapstick humor and cute kid antics. I don't recall any laugh-out-loud moments in it. Babies and Kittens just hit the obvious notes that this type of humorous narrative hits. It's very well drawn, however, so it's not a total loss.
++++++++++++++++
What I wrote back in 2008 still applies.