Rotten Ralph returns in this follow-up to his debut, the eponymous Rotten Ralph, now a reformed feline. Or is he? When his human girl Sarah goes out to run some errands, she tells Ralph to be good, an order he reluctantly obeys, until some rough alley cats happen by and taunt him as "soft." All bets are off, as Ralph proceeds to show those cats who the real rotten one is. But what will Sarah say when she returns home...?

We owned a copy of Rotten Ralph when I was a girl, and I read and reread it many times, amused by its tale of a thoroughly rotten cat, whose only real redeeming quality was his love for his little girl. I don't think I ever picked up this sequel, first published in 1978, but I am glad that I now have, as it features the same amusingly and unrepentantly bad kitty, one who enjoys his (mis)adventures, but also the love of his human girl. The artwork from Nicole Rubel has that same trippy 70s feeling as the original, and while not exactly to my taste, aesthetically speaking, has a nostalgic appeal for me, given me fondness for the first book about these characters.

Recommended to fans of Rotten Ralph and his other adventures, as well as to picture-book readers who like to read humorous, less-than-sweet stories. ( )

Ralph is a perfectly behaved cat- until some alley cats tease him and he has to prove his wildness to show them. When he's bad he's worse than they are, but his little girl takes pity on him and blames the alley cats. Ralph goes back to being good, but secretly hopes he'll have another excuse to be bad in the future. ( )