First off I have to say that I love, love, love Kathi Appelt's "Bubba and Beau" picture books. Secondly I'll say that the reader of this audio book gave a superb performance. Thirdly I'll say that I cannot fathom why, why, why I kept listening to this repetitive, drawn-out story. I must have suffered from what my climbing friends call "summit fixation". Problem number 1 -- multiple points of view. I kept wondering how on earth young readers could possibly keep tabs on the story with all the jumps from character to character to character. Problem number 2 -- the author stretched a story that could have been told in twelve or perhaps twenty-four chapters to over 120 chapters!!! Really?Problem number 3 -- over use of words and phrases. Take out "over a thousand years ago" and you would save at least ten full pages. Take out "sssssister" and you would save at least three pages.Problem number 4 -- so much brutality, hate, revenge, and just plain meanness. Yes there were the opposites of love, forgiveness, and kindness too. But the mix, for me, was very unsatisfying.Problem number 5 -- if you're writing a story about animals either have them be animals that behave and think like animals or have them be animals that behave and think like humans. In the case of this book they were both animal and human. I suppose that if I was a 4th or 5th or 6th grader and my teacher pulled this out to read aloud to the class after lunch while we settled down I would be happy to listen to the short chapters and I would be engaged with the story. "The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt is about an abanded cat finding an abused dog named Ranger. Ranger is a hound who was shot by accident and chained up against a old rusty house with a even older man in it. The man was Gar Face, he liked to kill things. The cat was worned by ranger that the house was a bad place to stay in and she would be killed by Gar Force. She refused to leave. Later on the calico gave birth to two kittens - Puck and Sabino. I gave this book 4 of out 5 stars because her and ranger became friends, even when she was warned by him, she stayed right beside the old hound.
What do You think about The Underneath (2008)?
This was another GREAT read aloud book for me and my kids a year or two ago!
—chug
It was a very good book, even though it wasn't my type of book.
—pookworm
