Best in Show for Rotten Ralph Book

“To thine own self be true.”

The cat show is coming to town and Rotten Ralph is hungry for glory – and desperate to defeat his perfect cousin Percy, whatever it takes. According to Sarah, Ralph has to stop being a lazy scoundrel and follow her regimen to achieve poise and polish. When the competition gets under way, Ralph pretends to be something he’s not, and fails. Just in time, Ralph decides victory can be his only if he stops pretending and really lets the fur fly.

With eye-popping art and an ingeniously comic text, this fourth book in the appealing series for beginning readers follows everyone’s favorite red-furred rascal on his path to a wholly satisfying last laugh

Cindy L. Carolan - Children's Literature

Rotten Ralph wants to be in the cat show but is desperately afraid that his perfect cousin Percy is going to beat him. To try and show up Percy, Ralph and Sarah embark on a rigorous self-improvement regimen, not that it makes much difference for poor Ralph. During the competition, Ralph realizes that it is futile to pretend to be somebody that he is not, so he lets his true colors shine through—a kaleidoscope of colors. This is the wisest decision Ralph could make. He ends up being awarded for his participation in the cat show. It is perhaps not in the manner which he envisioned, but, nonetheless, it is in a manner fitting his character! Imaginative, colorful illustrations—befitting a coffee table book on modern art—on almost every page accompany the text in this funny, four-chapter book. This title is part of the "Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader" series (Ralph made his debut in 1976) that includes Rotten Ralph Helps Out, Practice Makes Perfect for Rotten Ralph and Rotten Ralph Feels Rotten. Recommended 2005, Farrar Straus Giroux, Ages 6 to 8.