Review: Jasper and Scruff

A story about a fancy cat who wears bowties and has a beautiful library? I had to read this book!

Book: Jasper and Scruff by Nicola Colton

Read before: No

Ownership: Review copy sent free of charge by publisher for review. All opinions my own.

This book is adorable! The illustrations (by the author) are absolutely wonderful, and really bring out Jasper’s personality – especially in the illustrations of his house, where it’s so much fun to look at all the details! The entire book is charming – Jasper’s Type A need to have everything just so made me smile, as did his aspirations to be allowed to hang out with the Sophisticats. Who hasn’t tried, and failed, to impress horrible people who think they are fundamentally better than you? Jasper really needed Scruff to come along and shake up his world-view, and the chaos this little pup brings is so much better for Jasper than the approval of the snooty, mean Sophisticats. And Scruff is just so cute! He’s drawn in such an energetic, messy, scribbly way that you instantly get a sense of how very different from Jasper he is. Oh, the visuals in this book are just such a treat…

Though this is aimed at a younger reader than my usual books, I still found it wholly entertaining, and will definitely be looking out for more of this style of younger MG – it’s enjoyable even for an adult reader, and if I knew any kids in the target age group, I’d be recommending it for sure, because it’s a really excellent story about friendship and loosening up a little bit. It actually reminded me a little of the message behind Picklewitch and Jack – being yourself is wonderful, but don’t write off those who live life in a different way! This is an utterly adorable little book that gets five out of five fancy cats from me!