Minions: Sleepy Kittens

UPDATED Oct 30: Problem solved. This book comes with an "extra" back cover, which has 3 tabs that go into and hold up the "kittens." It's held in place by a single piece of clear tape. If it were not there, they would probably flop over or get messed up when displayed in a store. So what you do is, cut through the little piece of clear tape at the bottom of the book, and slide that extra back cover down and out of the "kitten finger puppets" to release them for drinking their milk!. You are left with a complete book, with new back cover, and three bendable kittens that stand upright. Toss out that extra book back cover. I agree with a former reviewer about the brush- it would be choking hazard, but this is a good opportunity for your kids to use their imagination and pretend that they are picking up the brush and stroking the kittens. So many toys nowadays leave nothing to the imagination. Also, the kittens are nicely printed felt - and if they were hand-crocheted like they look in the movie, the book would cost much more, and I don't think it would be as durable. I loved it!!!! Be SURE to read this in a RUSSIAN ACCENT! LOL

This book is really adorable! The puppets are made of felt and attached to the back page, so they aren't quite as nice as the ones in the movie, but they are still cute. The words and pictures are the same as the ones in the movie as far as I can tell, except for the brush page, since there is no brush. Some people have complained about the kittens being stiff like cardboard. What you have to do is cut the little piece of tape holding the packaging to the back of the book and slide out the big piece of cardboard. Once you have done that, the kittens shouldn't be stiff or difficult to play with. I found they could drink their milk quite easily, and the holes were plenty big enough for my fingers. Overall, if you love the kittens scene in the move, you will probably love this book.

Just like many other reviewers have stated, this book isn't exactly the same as the one in the movie. The brush doesn't exist in this book and the finger puppets are not soft enough to to brush. However, I have a young daughter who is very rough on her books and toys, so the finger puppets being more durable is a plus for us. The illustrations are not as clear or as nice as the ones in the movie, but they look very similar to the ones in the film. I ordered the book as a hard board book and it is very similarly made to other board books that I have purchased. My husband wears a size nine or ten on his ring finger and the size and placement of the finger puppets make it very difficult for him to use them. I wear a size six and a half to a seven on my ring finger and these finger puppets are fairly snug on me. We have only had the book a couple of days, so if the book doesn't last well, I will update my review.

We and our children love the Despicable Me movie and were so happy to find this adorable bedtime story from the movie. This is definitely one of their all time favorite story books. It is sweet and interactive with the little kitten puppets. The words of the story and exactly the same as in the movie. The puppets are not knitted like in the movie, but it did not bother us that they are made from felt. It is still very cute and the puppets work just fine. It did not have the little brush like in the movie, but I just took a little doll brush we had at home and stuck it to the cover with a velcro dot sticker and we use that to brush the kittens' fur. It worked just fine and the children love it. We would recommend this sweet rhyming bedtime story.

I got this book as a Christmas gift for my 3 year old. She discovered Despicable Me recently and I knew she'd love having this book. No, the kittens aren't fuzzy like the movie and there is no brush included - we use our imagination and pretend our fingers are brushes but I think a Barbie brush would work too - but my daughter loves it all the same and reads it to all of us (she has it mostly memorized between watching the movie and reading with us). Very cute and exactly what I expected. And, to top it off, it's a short and sweet book that's perfect for *my* little kitten's bedtime.

I bought this because my two girls (and I) love "Despicable Me." This book is so cute in the movie, and I was excited to see that they really published it. But it could've been so much better! The story is the same, but there are no holes in the book that the kittens poke through like in the movie (a detail my 4 year-old noticed immediately), and the material of the kittens is stiff, like a very stiff felt, and they don't bend easily. There's also no brush, as several other reviews mentioned. Not a huge deal, but how hard would it have been for them to include one? For the price, and the novelty of having the book straight out of the movie, it's cute and my girls like to read it. But if they had just gone one step farther, it would've been really great.

I have nothing but praise for this book. To sidestep fighting, I ordered one each for my son (5) and daughter (3). They have had them a month now and still carry them around as if they were favorite stuffed animals. They are huge fans of both Despicable Me movies (we are in the midst of another Despicable "marathon" as I write this :) ). The puppets are not exactly as shown in the movie, but they are similar enough and well made. They have not detached/pulled out, despite much use. You will need to take the yellow poster board off the back to use them effectively. The poster board goes up into the puppets, most likely to keep them nice during shipment. I have seen comments where people have not been able to move the puppets; I suspect it's related to not removing this. It may look like you are removing the back of the book (I thought this at first), but you are not. The true backside of the book is underneath. The rest of the book (pictures, text) is, from what I can see, identical to the one in the movie. It is not ring bound and does not come with a brush, I knew that before I purchased them. However, I can honestly tell you this has not been a problem at all. My kids simply "brush" their front and backs with their hands (they thought of this on their own). If a brush is really required, one can always pick up doll-sized brushes at AC Moore or hobby shop. We love this book! Now, to try to track down "One Big Unicorn" :).

I fell in love with this book the moment Gru started reading it in the movie. I wondered if it was based off of a real book or not so I searched Amazon for it. I was so happy to see that the book WAS real and that the words are exactly as they are in the film. Genius. I immediately purchased it and received it today. My kids loved it and asked for it again and again. I read the reviews and they are negative mostly due to the book not coming with the brush. Hello people, just use a Barbie brush :) That's what we did and it's perfect. 5 stars!