Month: August 2012

by Eugenie Fernandes

The final book in a little quartet that depicts a kitten exploring the seasons. In the opening scene we see the farm blanketed by winter: the fields covered with snow, the little pond iced over, trees bare of leaves, a snowman in the yard. As Kitten hurries to get home through a mild snowstorm, the reader gets to see how wildlife experiences the winter world. We meet some birds that stay at home: a blue jay and cardinal perched in evergreens, a chickadee on a shrub with some red berries, woodpecker rapping on a tree. We see which animals sleep through the winter: the beaver in its house, raccoon in a tree, turtle burrowed under the ground, chipmunk in its nest, bear in a den. Other animals are out and about searching for food: rabbit, fox, squirrel, even an otter catching a fish. A skunk huddles in a hollow log, a mouse scurries through his tunnel. There are even fish depicted beneath the ice! (Torpid from the cold?) The kitten scampers through the background, sometimes just barely visible as a patch of russet fur, making it fun for kids to try and find him on each page. On the last spread before he gets back home, just his pawprints are seen in the snow. As Kitten enters the house he finds mittens, hats and snow boots on the floor, children\’s drawings of the animals, books and a mug on the table- nice winter activities I agree! And already there is a hint of spring: some flower bulbs blooming in a pot. The textured illustrations made of sculpted clay, cut paper and paint are just wonderful, something you must see. I\’m keeping my eyes out for more Fernandes books now. (And I haven\’t yet read Kitten\’s Summer but it\’s on my request list).

Borrowed from the public library.

rating: 4/5 …….. 24 pages, 2011

by Eugenie Fernandes

This little book is just as charming as the first. In the opening farm scene we see the pumpkins in the field that was green leaves before, tilled bare earth in the flowerbed, a rake leaning against the house, leaves falling, an empty nest in the tree. As Kitten explores his surroundings he meets birds and caterpillars, finds pinecones and nuts on the ground, sees squirrels busy gathering food for winter. There\’s a porcupine chewing on a shoe, a bear getting into a stump for honey, a big fish eating a smaller one. Raccoons are after the corn, a skunk slurps worms, a chickadee picks seeds from a sunflower. When the kitten comes back inside, stuff just inside the door indicate what people have been doing: gathering apples and pears, baking pies. Lovely book that shows all kinds of indications of the season, how animals live and find food in nature, with beautiful textures and the Kitten himself hiding throughout the scenery. The illustrations, as I noted before, are made with clay modeling, paint and cut paper- a wonderful combination of colors and textures.

rating: 4/5 ……. 24 pages, 2010

more opinions:
Kiss the Book
Jean Little Library
Puss Reboots

by Eugenie Fernandes

I saw one of these little picture books on display and was intrigued by the charming illustrations so then I searched out the entire set. The concept is very simply; a kitten wanders through the woods near his home seeing what other animals are doing during different seasons of the year. At the end of the book Kitten returns home where a warm meal or cozy bed is always waiting for him. The text is just two-word rhyming phrases, it is the pictures that make this book. They are so rich in detail I sat looking through the book several times just to take it all in.

As the kitten wanders through the forest we see birds singing and nesting, insects crawling about, frogs near the water, a ducking hatching and a new baby calf, a lamb gamboling and a horse running in a meadow, as well as many other things. I like that the book doesn\’t tidy up nature; the owl is shown feeding her baby something obviously fuzzy and limp (dead mouse?), the piglet is nursing as his mother lies in a mud wallow. But the pictures are so charming that I don\’t think these details would bother anyone on the contrary they would encourage children to learn about those kinds of realities. The pictures are just amazing. They\’re made from a combination of modeled clay, cut paper and cloth, painted backgrounds (looks like watercolor to me but might by acrylic washes.) The cow\’s tail is yarn threads. It\’s just lovely and wonderfully engaging to look at. As a plus, each book begins by showing the farm scene and you can look at them altogether to observe how the garden, pond, flowerbed, etc change with the seasons. As the kitten enters the house at the end of each story, there are things scattered about evident of what people have been doing at that time of year; in this spring book there are seed packets and seedlings in trays, bulbs flowering in pots. For most of the pages the kitten is in the background or peeking through leaves, so it can turn into a find-the-kitty exercise too, which is always fun for kids.

rating: 4/5 …….. 24 pages, 2010

more opinions:
BookAndAGarden
Young Readers
Kiss the Book

by Joy Harjo
illustrated by Paul Lee

I\’m anticipating the time when my fourteen-month old will sit still long enough to read real picture books. I do like good children\’s books and now sometimes when we\’re in the children\’s section at the library, she\’s pushing chairs around and playing with the few toys they have there; I\’m idly looking at titles and covers on display and sometimes I bring a few home to read myself, or share with my older child.

The seven-year-old is into Ramona books right now, so she declines whenever I offer a picture book. Last week she read the episode where Ramona\’s elderly cat dies, and started talking to me about how cats have nine lives. I saw this kitty title on the picture-book shelf and when I saw the beautiful rich paintings and that it was about a cat with nine lives, I had to bring it home.

The Good Luck Cat features a Native American family and their beloved tabby cat Woogie. A young girl narrates the story, telling how her aunt said Woogie brought them good luck, and explaining how cats have nine lives. She recounts how Woogie lost each of his extra lives, in narrow escapes from the neighbor\’s dog, a car in the street, falling out of a tree etc. The best picture is when he momentarily gets shut in the clothes drier and tumbles around yowling before someone rescues him! (This part of the story could be distressing to younger readers, as the cat also gets threatened by boys with BB guns) Then Woogie disappears and the girl worries that he\’s lost his ninth life and will never come back. She puts out food on the porch for him and worries anxiously until he returns, missing part of his ear but apparently a happy cat, and certainly glad to be back home.

This could be any family with their pet cat. The identity of them as being Native American isn\’t really prominent, apart from the mention of the family gathering at a powwow, they really look like any other kids. The little girl is mischievous and irresponsible at times; she shuts her cat in a box and hides it under other things in the trunk to try and sneak him into a party, for example. But when he goes missing she anxiously posts lost-cat signs and frets about his safety. It\’s a tender, well-told story that appealed to my older kid who was intrigued with the nine-lives concept, as well as the younger one who just loved the cat\’s faces. And did I mention the illustrations are just lovely?

rating: 4/5 ……. 32 pages, 2000

more opinions:
Book Talks
Reading and Responding to Children\’s Literature