Simple, relatable cat-centered tales and childlike illustrations add up to a cozy debut.
A debut short story collection for children spins tales of Scottish cats learning life lessons.
Set in various locales along the Scotland’s River Clyde, this pleasant book features six short stories, each featuring an idiosyncratic cat engaged in a mild adventure. Each feline is named for a color (Rhuari Red Cat, Olivia Orange Cat, Ya Yellow Cat, and so on), which determines the book’s graphic design: white pages of text, each outlined in dots that correspond to each cat’s hue. The accompanying, uncredited illustrations are sweet and bright, and they have the untutored but charming appearance of children’s art. Members of the book’s young target audience will have no trouble relating to the felines, who observe and react to their adventures from a childlike perspective. Rhuari Red Cat, for example, is certain that he’s “big, fearsome, and very, very scary” enough to ignore his mother’s warning that he’s too little to go hunting for food away from his home. He feels differently after he has unsuccessful encounters with trash bins and a garbage truck (which he sees as a “monster”). This and other stories are all presented with a light, gentle touch, and they feature pleasant messages involving friendship, empowerment, and the cozy security of home. For example, Ya Yellow Cat attends her owner’s ballet class and, through observation and practice, realizes her dream of becoming a graceful dancer; fire-station resident Peter Purple Cat takes a break from his official mouse-catching job for a too-exciting outing on a fire truck; vegetarian Bobby Blue Cat, who only eats tomatoes, fails at fishing but finds common ground with his meat-eating feline neighbors; and Gertie Green Cat ventures out of her “beautiful little house by the Firth of Clyde” to say hello to the blue sea, the green hills, and the golden sun—and after receiving no reply, she returns to the place she likes best: her owner’s lap.
Simple, relatable cat-centered tales and childlike illustrations add up to a cozy debut.Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5246-6743-6
Page Count: 84
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes.
A lift-the-flap book gives the littlest trick-or-treaters some practice identifying partygoers under their costumes.
Little Blue Truck and his buddy Toad are off to a party, and they invite readers (and a black cat) along for the ride: “ ‘Beep! Beep! Beep!’ / says Little Blue. / ‘It’s Halloween!’ / You come, too.” As they drive, they are surprised (and joined) by many of their friends in costume. “Who’s that in a tutu / striking a pose / up on the tiniest / tips of her toes? / Under the mask / who do you see?” Lifting the flap unmasks a friend: “ ‘Quack!’ says the duck. / ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ ” The sheep is disguised as a clown, the cow’s a queen, the pig’s a witch, the hen and her chick are pirates, and the horse is a dragon. Not to be left out, Little Blue has a costume, too. The flaps are large and sturdy, and enough of the animals’ characteristic features are visible under and around the costumes that little ones will be able to make successful guesses even on the first reading. Lovely curvy shapes and autumn colors fade to dusky blues as night falls, and children are sure to notice the traditional elements of a Halloween party: apple bobbing, lit jack-o’-lanterns, and punch and treats.
Beloved Little Blue takes a bit of the mystery—and fear—out of Halloween costumes. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-77253-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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