Ruffles and the Teeny, Tiny Kittens

Ruffles

by David Melling

Join Ruffles as he faces the trials and tribulations of preschool life in this bright picture book series from award-winning author and illustrator David Melling.

As Ruffles learns about the world around him, he discovers there are lots of things he likes . . . and some things he doesn’t! He loves scratching, digging, and chewing, but he does not like the teeny, tiny kittens. No, no, no, no, NO! They pounce and purr and snore and chase and poop! Worst of all, they want to play with Ruffles’s blue blanket, and Ruffles doesn’t want to share. But the teeny, tiny kittens don’t understand, and there’s trouble when the blue blanket is accidentally ripped. Luckily, Ruffles’s new feline friends show him how sharing together is the very best way to make friends and play.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Cats, Animals, Childrens, Friendship, Pets

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2021

About the author

David Melling grew up in London with various siblings and a selection of animals, including a dog. It took him a while to decide what he wanted to do, but he never stopped drawing. He worked as a cel renderer and background artist in several animation studios before he began illustrating children’s books. His work includes the Hugless Douglas series and The Kiss That Missed, which was short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. To date he has created around 150 books in over thirty languages. David Melling lives in Oxfordshire, England, with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruffles is a dog with many things he likes. The teeny, tiny kittens who live in his home are not on that list of things. Indeed, they squirm in on most everything Ruffles would prefer to do or keep to himself, but he is drawing the line at his favorite blue blanket . . . with disastrous results.

A cute and funny (potty humor, hooray!) story about sharing and cohabitating.

I need more Ruffles books, stat!

[Joana Alves | Juca Mindscape · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que livro mais amoroso 🥹 um livro que nos fala sobre partilha de forma tão carinhosa e simples.
Além disso está recheado de gatinhos e, claro, o nosso querido cãozinho Rafa 🤍

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ruffles, who first appeared in Ruffles and the Red, Red Coat (2021) is back and beleagured by kittens! They may be tiny, but the kittens take a huge toll on Ruffles' serenity, climbing and pouncing and licking and pooping all over the place! Ruffles tries his best to be understanding, but doesn't really want to share his bed or his toys. He definitely doesn't want to share his favorite, cozy blue blanket, but when he tries to take it away from the kittens, they think it's a game, and soon the blanket is torn in two. Very sad about this, Ruffles goes to bed to try to get cozy, but the blanket is too small to keep him warm. Luckily, the kittens pile on top of him to take the chill off. In the morning, Ruffles is in a better mood, sharing his toys and finding out that it's more fun to play with friends. But the kitty poop? He could still do without that!

I love books with dogs, especially when they are embued with human frailties and problems. On eof my children's favorite picture book series was Ainslie Pryor's Baby Blue Cat, and Baby Blue Cat and the Dirty Dog Brothers was the best. Seeing cats and dogs interact is always fun. We'll see how well my dog Pongo does at Thanksgiving when he meets my new grandcat, Bella!

The illustrations of Ruffles and the kittens are absolutely adorable; there is so much emotion in the line drawings-- look at that cover, with the look in Ruffles' eyes that is similar to mine when I am on hall duty right before 6th grade lunch! Ruffles is so long suffering, and the five kittens cavort all over him with great glee. I was especially fond of the pages with nine smaller pictures all lined up showing either Ruffles or the kittens engaged in a variety of activities. I think there needs to be a t shirt!

One of my favorite dog friendship books is McMullan's 2019 As Warm as the Sun but Ruffles and his feline friends is right up there. Other great book is Thompson's 2020 A Family For Louie, and Applegate's Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy would be a slightly longer follow up for a young reader who enjoys dogs making new friends as much as I do.

[Pi]

Oh! Zakochałam się w tej książeczce! Jest cudowna, słodziutka, kochana i w ogóle milusia. To przemiłe zaskoczenie, bo przecież jest to pozycja dla maluszków, a tutaj i mnie serduszko zabiło mocniej. Pełna miłości i czułości opowieść, w której odnajdą się i mali i duzi i jestem pewna, że każdy może się z niej nauczyć czegoś ważnego - mianowicie PRZYJAŹNI.
CHRUPEK I MAŁE KOTKI, to opowieść o piesku, któremu życie zmienia się o 180 stopni za sprawą małych kotków. CHRUPEK lubi wiele rzeczy, ale nie lubi kotków, bo one go męczą, chcą się z nim bawić, zagarniają jego rzeczy... i co z tym zrobić?! Nie ma biedny piesek spokoju - ale czy spokój zawsze jest wskazany.
Mądra książka dla malutkich czytelników, wręcz wzruszająca. David Melling zauroczył mnie zarówno tekstem - prostym, ale celnym - jak i ilustracjami, które rozczulają i rozśmieszają. Naprawdę złapała mnie ta historia i ogromnie polubiłam CHRUPKA.
Książka została ślicznie wydana. Ma przyjemny format, idealną wielkość, ładne kolory, porządny papier. Bardzo polecam wszystkim, którzy szukają i ładnej i mądrej pozycji dla swoich pociech. Jestem pewna, że jest to książeczka, która pozostanie w główce maluszka, a po latach będzie budziła wiele emocji i stanie się symbolem dzieciństwa.

kotki potrafią zawrócić w głowie... psiakowi
tom I
CHRUPEK
Wydawnictwo Wilga

[YSBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This board book edition of Ruffles and the Teeny, Tiny Kittens is the second installment of the Ruffles series by David Melling that has been turned into board book format. Ruffles is a cute white dog with a gray spot around one eye that loves to do everything that puppies do: howl, scratch, eat, fetch, sniff, chew, dig, run, and sleep! He does not, however, love the tiny orange and white kittens that follow him everywhere, try and take his things, and rip up his favorite blue blanket. Poor Ruffles! The kittens feel bad too and snuggle up to keep him cozy. After naptime, Ruffles gets his yellow ball to share and they all have fun playing and become fast friends. The illustrations, done in pencil and colored digitally, are both adorable and wonderfully expressive, especially in communicating the range of Ruffles’ feelings toward the exhausting kittens. This book lends itself well to the board book format with its bright colors, slight humor, and predictable and repetitive storyline that will hold a young child’s attention.  Parents of toddlers who want a little more substance in their board book read-alouds will love this charming story about learning to share and making friends. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Barbara Band · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruffles is irresistibly cute, but the arrival of the teeny tiny kittens takes the cuteness to a whole new level! At first, Ruffles isn't at all happy about sharing his toys—or anything else—with the kittens. But when they snuggle up to keep him warm and he watches them happily playing the next morning, he discovers that everything is more fun when it's shared.
This delightful board book is full of opportunities for joining in with sounds, actions and repeated phrases, making it a wonderful interactive read-aloud. The sturdy board book format is also perfect for little hands.
I read this with my two-year-old grandson, who loved joining in by repeating the words that matched the pictures, especially "Big Blue Blankie". He was far less impressed when the blanket was torn in two though! A charming story about sharing, friendship and discovering the joy of playing together.

[Brandon Dyer (Children's Librarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruffles, the dog just wants to have a normal day of playing with his toys, digging holes in the backyard and sleeping on his dog bed with his blue blanket. Unfortunately, a group of orange tabby cats disrupts Ruffles day by taking his belongings and not leaving him alone. Ruffles and the kittens must figure out how to live with each other and be respectful. This book uses humor to talk and visually show young readers how to be respectful to one another and create friendship. Recommended for readers 4 years old and up. The illustrations are drawn by pencil and were transferred to color digitally. Parents can use this picture book to teach youth about sharing and friendship.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the five orange and white kittens in this board book might be cute and all, Ruffles, a dog, is not particularly thrilled at their presence. They follow him everywhere and want to share all his possessions. When a tug of war over his blue blanket causes it to rip and be too small to cover him when he tries to nap, the kittens come to the rescue. After a warm snooze, Ruffles figures maybe he will share his favorite ball with them. With a strong message about sharing, this board book contains several small images of the dog and cats busy with various activities.

[Margo Tanenbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the story of this picture book is nothing new (adult dog is confronted with kittens and doesn't like them, then they wind up being friends), the execution is spot-on. The artwork and the text and delightful and are perfect for any dog and kitten loving preschooler. Personally I wouldn't use it in storytime because some of the illustrations are quite small but it's great to read one-on-one with a child 3-5 years old.

[Teresa Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a dog named Ruffles. He likes howling and digging but he does not like tiny kittens! And he really doesn't like to share, especially his blue blanket. But the kittens take it and then they rip it!!! Then the kittens do nice things and Ruffles learns to like them. (review by Santana, 4th grade)

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is cute and funny, so it gets three stars, despite being full of kittens and having ridiculous and annoying statements about Ruffles learning to enjoy sharing and love the kittens. Yuck.

Apparently there are other Ruffles books. I'm hoping those are not sullied by cats.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great edition to the story of this dog and the lessons he learns. So funny.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute and includes poop, what more could you want

[Melissa the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! I feel like I've read several versions of this story before, but this one was adorable.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would take a bullet for Ruffles

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! I loved it!

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first Ruffles doesn't like the teeny, tiny kittens, but he comes around. The gesture and expression on the animals is good. There are no backgrounds.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an adorable book! Wonderful illustrations and such a fun book! Highly recommend!

[Alyssa Mandell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really cute book about a dog not wanting to share with the kittens. Half of the book is too tiny to share in storytime.

[Janet Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great cadence! I think is the best Ruffles book so far!

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5 year old loved this book and asks to read other Ruffles books ♥️

[Heather McC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruffles the dog makes some unlikely friends after a CATistrophic incident with his favorite blue blanket.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorable book about a dog and the teeny tiny kittens that love him so much.


I came across this SUPERDUPER Adorable book in Library #1 and just had to bring it home. I just love books about dogs, especially now that I am still trying to get over my anxiety of getting a dog, and I was curious to see if Ruffles would love these kittens or not.

In this book we meet the adorable Ruffles. He loves many things from digging to finding bones to sleeping to food. However… he is not that big of a fan of one thing. The tiny kittens that stalk him everywhere and never let him get any rest. In this book we see the adorable mini-tornadoes that the kittens are and I have to say, I could see why Ruffles was so hesitant about it all. I mean he really never gets any rest. XD The kittens know no boundaries! And I can also imagine finding poo here and there is not a good thing, I would also be like, um, eww.

But things go really bad when Ruffles favourite blanket gets claimed by the kittens (and also thus their poop). I felt so sad for Ruffles. It is his favourite thing and now it is like that. I could imagine he was totally done with it all. But things go better! Yes, it sounds like it will never get better, but believe me, the kittens do feel that they went too far and I just loved seeing that and also seeing what the kittens did next and following that which direction the book took. That was a very nice route to go for and I am happy. I also like it wasn’t an instant chance, but took a bit of time.

I do feel the message of sharing is nice, but I think we should also just accept that sometimes you don’t want to share or that some things just aren’t shareable. And that should be fine as well. Everyone got their own things and we shouldn’t be forced to share because it is better/nicer/blabla.

The illustrations were absolutely ADORABLE! I just wanted to step into the book and cuddle all of them! I love the big spot on Ruffles head, it gives him so much personality.

All in all, this book was just oodles of fun and I loved reading it. I went AWW a lot of time! I would recommend this one to all, and I guess I will have to see if I can find Ruffles and the Red Red Coat because I need more Ruffles in my life!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable, sweet and gentle. A must have for the youngest animal lovers!