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THE THREE FOUR KITTENS by Stanley Dell

THE THREE FOUR KITTENS

By

Pub Date: March 18th, 1941
Publisher: Henry Holt

This book was reported originally for fall publication. It is now in final form -- and a beautiful book, with pictures in soft colors, by Jean Lamont -- with certain minor changes. I must confess that, approaching it again with as much perspective as possible, I still feel as I felt last fall, that the story is complex and would confuse the average small child. I had it read and appraised by another reader, one with a small child, and got exactly the same reaction. Consequently, instead of reporting it as a picture story book, I am putting it under Read Aloud classification, as it seems to me important that the book be read by an understanding adult. It is a nonsense tale, with a basic concept of social adaptation, of the odd kitten, and of successive experiences in spending the night out. There is some factual content, thinly veiled, in the contacts with the various animals, but -- to an adult -- the basic lesson is that of adjustment and adaption. Will a child get it?