November 2023 - Page 3 of 3

Plum Crazy!

Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat Vol. 3

by Natsumi Hoshino

Third book about Plum and her kitten companion Snowball (the biter). This volume I felt, started to veer a little further from the realism. More of the cats’ thoughts and behavior is akin to people instead of cats- making wishes, participating in holiday activities, being jealous and scheming about things cats probably wouldn’t think of! I also found it odd that there was a short all about the cats suddenly becoming concerned about climate change, and trying to do things to reduce energy consumption- like going around the house turning all the light switches off (which baffled the humans). Cute, but just a bit odd.

Well, in the main part of the story, Plum (as usual) gets in trouble for messes caused by Snowball. The son’s friend brings his older brother over, who definitely doesn’t like cats, and they all try to devise ways to get him comfortable around the kitties. Snowball goes to the vet, who determines she’s getting overweight, so she’s put on diet food. Of course she refuses to eat it, so Plum takes matters into her own paws- and gets more involved than she’d wanted! The family installs a cat flap to one of the doors in the house, and Snowball balks at using it. Her favorite squeaky mouse toy goes missing, which causes all sorts of upset. The son becomes ill, has to stay in bed, and the cats show how much they care. The family notices how friendly Snowball is with the neighbor’s black manx kitten Princess, and they come up with all kinds of stories about why the kittens are such pals. Finally agreeing on the theory that these two were originally from the same litter, and are actually sisters. Final chapter is Plum’s dream- which was funny and curious, but not at all what a cat would probably dream, once again more like human ideas put into a cat head. So getting to be more like What’s Michael? in that regard. Also I noticed that so far there’s been no more mention of the mother’s drinking problem, which kind of surprised me as I was expecting that to be part of the continual storyline (like Snowball’s biting, which is gradually becoming less of a problem).

Borrowed from the public library. Next in the series.

Rating: 3/5

180 pages, 2010

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Graphic Novels

Orca

How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean's Greatest Predator

by Jason M. Colby

Before 1965, killer whales were widely regarded as dangerous animals, considered pests by fishermen, often shot at and killed without any restrictions by fishermen, whalers and government agencies alike. That started to change when one man, Ted Griffin, braved getting in the water with a captured killer whale. His action was unprecedented and sensational, drawing shocked and astonished crowds of people who would had never seen a whale up close, never would have dared to approach one. Before long there was a scramble to catch more orcas and keep them alive- up to this point they had always been sent to rendering plants or dissected for scientific study. Methods were crude and rough at first, lots of whales died, and plenty that were caught didn’t last longer than a year in captivity- if even that. But within the short span of a decade, public opinion about orcas had flipped completely. Far from being viewed as dangerous, vicious beasts, they were beloved and admired by many. Which was only possible because one person thought to keep a whale confined, and show others it didn’t automatically attack (or eat people).

Gradually, though, the more orcas that were caught and put in pools, pens and even (temporarily) fish ponds, the more people began to wonder if this was a bad idea. Finally able to study orcas up close, scientists began to learn more about their acoustic sensitivity, their close social bonds, even the differences between pods that ate fish and others that only fed on mammals (unknown before). When someone finally realized how to individually identify and track orcas, family structures were teased out, and population counts were finally conducted. The public started to clamor for whales to be protected instead of pursued, and many protested their being kept in captivity at all. Lots of mishaps in this book, there’s accounts of Luna and Keiko and others. The narrative doesn’t dwell on the stress and poor health the whales experienced in captivity, though. Mostly the focus is on the people. People who first tried to catch whales, who tried to study them, who trained them and worked to protect them and all kinds of competition and political friction around their welfare. It can get hard to keep all the names straight- after a while I quit trying much, reading lightly to get a general impression. There’s a nice personal touch brought in by the many interviews, the author having travelled to visit with men who were involved in the early heyday of live orca shows, getting personal stories, opinions and viewpoints not often shared before. Overall it’s a detailed historical account of how public opinion changed so quickly about this one whale species. I much prefer stories with more depth about singular individuals, so that’s the only reason why I considered this book good and not great. However it was interesting enough that I made the effort to finish. Very well-researched, extensive notes and references. I have a long list of new titles to look for, thanks to this one.

I actually liked reading the history in this book, because much of it took place in the Puget Sound region, where I grew up. Lots of details of maritime culture, fishing and whaling industries and how they changed, things about the Seattle waterfront, and brief mention of how native tribes viewed the killer whale. One small thing I could somewhat relate to- Ivar’s. I’ve been to the famous Ivar’s seafood restaurant with my family (once). I didn’t know that originally the man Ivar Haglund also ran a small public aquarium. When it folded he kept the adjoining restaurant going.

Side note: this book has the best organized endnotes I have ever seen. Usually it’s kind of tedious to find the endnote at the back of the book that you’re looking for, so I’ll keep a separate bookmark back there if I wanted to frequently look for more information. In this volume, the endnote pages had the span of origin pages marked in each top margin, which made it very easy to find them! It’s a small thing, but I really liked that feature.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5

394 pages, 2018`

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

The Pet Vet

made by Ceaco ~ artist Jane Wooster Scott ~ 750 pieces

I wasn’t aware of this artist before, but a quick look online and there’s lots of puzzles with her paintings. Very similar to Charles Wysocki- scenery with big houses, lots of little details, rural and early Americana as far as I can tell. I liked this one because of all the animals. It was a new, sealed in the box thrift store find. The downside to it being so spanking new: hurt my fingers a lot. I had to wear glove tips. Even when sorting, and disassembling at the end. Very shiny too, which was a bit distracting. But decent piece shape variety, and more of a challenge than I expected! I started by choosing all the blue of sky and trees in bloom- but the abstract randomness of the blossoms really stumped me. So just did the plain sky first, then set all the flower pieces aside for the end.

The assortment of pets is fun- there’s the usual cats and dogs, a bird in a cage, and animals you’d expect in a farming community- horse, pig, sheep, donkey. Then there’s this one, I think it’s supposed to be a calf- but the head doesn’t seem quite right (too long) and the horns are tall and straight upright, like a goat. Maybe it’s a goat with a black-and-white piebald coat? Just funny.

Then there’s a girl with a pet skunk!

And I like this one just because it reminds me of a stray dog that showed up in our neighborhood when I was a kid. We kept it in the yard for about a week, found it a new home. Nicest dog ever. (It wasn’t quite as large to me as compared to the kid in this picture).

Tags: puzzles

Plum Crazy!

Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat Vol. 2

by Natsumi Hoshino

More cute cat manga! Continuing the story of Plum and the bothersome kitten Snowball that joined her household. Snowball is still biting the older cat. The family sends her to spend a few days with a neighbor that has another kitten, hoping that some rough-and-tumble play will teach her to be more gentle. It doesn’t last long, as the kittens wreck the neighbor’s house. The teenage son’s friend visits and tries to alter Snowball’s behavior, but his interference (with what sounds like a good understanding of how cats think) only heightens the situation. The cats alternately snuggle together and fight, hog toys from each other, and mess with display items or gifts set out for holidays. Usual cat mischief. And adorableness- I don’t think I ever saw a comic or manga before that had so many lovely drawings of cats in relaxed, curled-up poses (the artist author is really good at these!) At one point in the story, Snowball goes wandering outside trying to follow Plum, and ends up in a dog park. In another episode, Snowball gets sick and it’s Plum who alerts the clueless humans, as they misinterpret the kitten’s behavior. For a while after being ill, Snowball licks Plum instead of biting, but then she goes back to her old antics. A tiny black-and-white stray kitten breaks into the house after the cats’ food, and Snowball is jealous of the momentary attention the mother gives it. Snowball is introduced to the dance students, which goes a little better than how it did with Plum. At the end, Snowball is trying to do some nice things for Plum, but her attempts get misconstrued and the older cat is scolded for things she hadn’t done. Amusing.

This volume has more of the little cat-viewpoint stories interspersed, each just two or three pages, wherein you can read the cats’ thoughts. Oddly, they’re spread over the chapter breaks- so you’ll have one page of the short, then the next chapter heading and double-page spread illustration, then the other page or two of the short, before the new chapter continues. Strange, I don’t know why the formatting was done like that. It’s very clear to the reader now that Plum understands human speech, though the people themselves still puzzle about that- does she really know what we’re saying? or are her actions just coincidence. They finally conclude that she really does grasp language, and is a super intelligent cat. Strangely though, when the cats meow and mew, they can’t understand each other (which you gather from the shorts). So there’s friction between the cats because Plum can’t tell what Snowball says in “kitten talk” and vice versa. That doesn’t really make sense to me, but oh well. I like these cute kitty mangas regardless.

Borrowed from the public library. Next in the series.

Rating: 3/5

180 pages, 2008

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Graphic Novels

The Odyssey of KP2

An Orphan Seal, a Marine Biologist, and the Fight to Save a Species

by Terrie M. Williams

Hawaiian monk seals are one of the rarest pinnipeds in the world and critically endangered. KP2 (the second pup born on Kauai in 2008) was abandoned by his mother, who refused to nurse him, and would have starved but was rescued by humans. Raised to the point where he could catch fish on his own, he was released again but had difficulties with his eyesight (known cause uncertain, but one scientist speculated it was from lacking key nutrients when he was young and growing quickly). Another issue was his strong attraction to people- constantly approaching boats and playing with kids in the water (reminded me of Luna). He was starting to go blind and nobody could figure out how to keep him away from swimmers and beachgoers. So he was shipped to California, where a marine biologist tried to save his eyesight and study him- no monk seals had ever been studied up close before. He was trained to cooperate in tests that measured his metabolism and other things, teaching scientists how distinctly different the tropical seals are from the many other species that live in cold water. Enough that they could use that information to inform conservationists what the seals needed to survive, and tease out what was contributing to their demise. Lots of interesting things were observed about his behavior as well. There was much controversy about KP2 being kept in the science lab- local Hawaiians wanted him returned to his native island (while at the same time fishermen on the islands protested the protection of seals that competed with them for fish). When funding got cut (and other issues arose), the seal was finally returned to Hawaii. However due to being nearly blind, he couldn’t be released into the wild and spent the rest of his life in the Waikiki Aquarium, where he has a website. (Apparently he had a Facebook page too, but I couldn’t find that. Maybe because animals can’t have their “own” pages anymore?)

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5

283 pages, 2012

Plum Crazy!

Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat Vol. 1

by Natsumi Hoshino

Another cat manga I found and read in two sittings, in the middle of a longer book. So cute. Not quite as cute as Chi, but still very endearing. This series is about a cat named Plum, who lives with a woman that teaches dance to younger children, and her older son (high school age, I think?). Plum wanders outside one day and finds a very tiny kitten, brings it home. The family is surprised and delighted. They care for the little kitten at first thinking to find it a new home, but end up keeping it. It’s named Snowball (because of two white spots over the eyes).

In this manga, the cats don’t talk- unlike Chi, where you could read their thoughts in words. (Except, oddly, for the postscript, which includes some panels of little incidents from Plum’s viewpoint, and in those you can read her thoughts). The cats are also drawn more realistically in these illustrations, and the behavior very realistic too, which made it quite enjoyable. There’s all the usual spats between two cats getting to know each other- the older Plum not wanting to share her bed, when the kitten wants to snuggle. Vying (in their subtle ways) for attention with their people. The kitten wanting to hog food. Finding another stray kitten- this one gets returned to its owner- and the curious dynamic that creates for a day among the cats. Plum feeling harassed by the visiting dance students who all swarm around energetically, wanting to hold and pet her. The owner trying to dress the cats up in cute things for a holiday picture (of course they don’t cooperate). There’s a dream sequence here too, and I found it much more interesting and like a real dream, than the odd one in previous book.

Most interesting though, was the biggest theme throughout the story- Snowball’s problem behaviors. Firstly, she likes to bite Plum. And the older cat doesn’t retaliate, but just acts shocked and runs away. In another odd scenario, one day she follows the boy to school, where she has a confrontation with a raccoon in a classroom. It was the weirdest thing. I won’t explain- go read the book! but it showed that Plum could well defend herself, she just didn’t for some reason, with the kitten. Later in the story, Snowball starts sucking and chewing on clothes and blankets- which frustrates the family who try and figure out how to stop it. The boy advises his mother how punishment won’t work, but it’s a school friend who points out that the kitten probably has a compulsion for “wool sucking” because it was separated from its mother very young and didn’t have enough time nursing.

There’s also a part of the story about the mother’s drinking habit, which is sometimes problematic, and how the son tries to deal with that. So unlike Fuku Fuku, which was just little tidbits of cat antics, this one has more depth to the story and things happening with the people as well as their cats, that you want to see get resolved, or at least what it leads to. My public library doesn’t have any more Fuku books, sadly, but they do have a whole run of Plum Crazy! which I checked out all at once. More soon!

Borrowed from the public library. Next in the series.

Rating: 3/5

180 pages, 2008

More opinions: Buried in Print
anyone else?

Tags: Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Graphic Novels

Month: November 2023

Plum Crazy!

Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat Vol. 3

Orca

How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean's Greatest Predator

The Pet Vet

made by Ceaco ~ artist Jane Wooster Scott ~ 750 pieces

Plum Crazy!

Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat Vol. 2

The Odyssey of KP2

An Orphan Seal, a Marine Biologist, and the Fight to Save a Species

Plum Crazy!

Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat Vol. 1

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