Dolores Meets Her Match

I recently read "Dolores Meets Her Match" to a group of 5-7 year olds. What a great success! The book was so clever, charming and humorous and a welcome addition to the Dolores series.

Both newcomers and readers already familiar with the hilarious antics of Dolores will be delighted by the latest book in the series, "Dolores Meets Her Match." Until the arrival of Hillary, the new girl in the class, Dolores has been the star of Show-and-Tell and resident cat expert, accustomed to regaling her classmates with tales of her "amazing" cat Duncan. Now she is worried. Can Duncan (who is in fact shy, nap-prone and portly) actually compete with Hillary's loquacious (he has seven different ways of saying meow), "slender and elegant" Siamese kitten Harold? Can Dolores shape up Duncan in time for Pet Day? Or can she, as her older sister Faye advises, "just let Duncan be Duncan." The pictures are bright and funny, and loaded with details to discover and enjoy in repeated readings. I highly recommend this book!

Samuels, Barbara. Dolores Meets Her Match. FSG. 2007 Dolores has an amazing cat named Duncan who is "brave", "kind" and "helpful" -or so she has told her classmates. If someone had a question about cats, they "always asked Dolores." Then a new girl named Hilary joins the class and tells everyone about her Siamese cat named Harold who has a distinguished pedigree and can say Meow "seven different ways." Preparing for Pet Day, Dolores worries that Hillary's Harold is better than her Duncan but her sister Faye tells her to "just let Duncan be Duncan!" Dolores and her cat Duncan previously encountered in "Dolores and Duncan" (Bradbury Press, 1986) return in this delightful story about rivalry and friendship. The many humorous and detailed illustrations give it extra sparkle: in one, Dolores looks on forlornly as Hillary stands surrounded by other children eager to hear her counsel on cats; another shows Hillary carrying the homemade cat mummy sarcophagus that she made for a school project; and a third shows the chaos that ensues when Hillary blows a whistle to summon Harold out of a maze that she had designed to demonstrate his intelligence. Another hit in this endearing series.