A to Z: Y – Yoko

One more and we’re done for this year!!!!

Yoko 

Rosemary Wells
Hyperion Books for Children, 1998 

From the dust jacket: “What a great day it’s going to be! Yoko’s mother has made her favorite sushi for lunch and packed it in a willow-covered cooler. The bus whisks Yoko to school where she greets all her friends and joins in the Good Morning Song. But when lunchtime arrives, suddenly everyone notices Yoko’s sushi. The teasing starts and her happy day evaporates.

“With an uncanny understanding of the pleasures and pains of an ordinary school day, Rosemary Wells has created a tender, irresistible story, true to the heart of childhood.”

This is a sweet picture book with cute illustrations that deals with a sometimes hard subject of rejection and bullying. It helps that all the animals are cute and the teasing isn’t too harsh, but it hurts Yoko all the same. Thankfully the school teacher works things out and the students are all friends again at the end of the book. Yoko is a cautionary tale of not liking someone and being mean to them just because they’re different and eat different things. We’re all the same under our skin and/or fur and it’s a good lesson to learn while your kittens are still young.

The book has large, black print on white background so early readers will be able to read it and learn about how to make sushi! Hmmm, reading this book has made me hungry for some tuna and shrimp!!

Rating 4 out of 5 paws because the illustrations are cute and the lesson is taught gently.

Reviewer: Simon

 

A to Z: X – X-tra Special Cat!

Here’s an X-tra special cat!!

 

The CATawampus Cat 

Jason Carter Eaton
Pictures by Gus Gordon
Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, 2017 

From the dust jacket, “Sometimes all it takes is a small shift in perspective to help you see what was right there all along.” “Catawampus (cat-uh-wahm-pus) n. <1. Diagonal or at an angle. 2. Askey, awry.  As in: The catawampus cat walked into town one day, and that’s when everything began to change.”

Do you remember the following nursery rhyme?

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

This story has nothing to do with a crooked man, mouse, house or cat, but for some reason it reminds me of it. Maybe it’s the crooked cat – but this cat is catawampus, not crooked! That means he walks around town at an angle which causes a lot of the townfolk to look at him – and their lives – differently.  Without knowing it (or, maybe he does) he changes everything around him – and at the very end he changes himself!!!

Love the illustrations – particularly how the artist incorporates paper clippings into his illustrations (which, by the way, has inspired Mom to make some new collages!) The cat is cute, although the way he is drawn, it looks like he walks around with closed eyes – but maybe that’s to show how aloof he is to what goes on around him. The print is a medium size and printed in black on mostly light-colored backgrounds so it will be easy to read for most kittens.

Rating, 4 out of 5 paws because like all cats, he remains unique and an enigma to everyone. Also, the illustrations are inspiring to Mom!!

Reviewer: Simon

 

A to Z: U – Underwood, Deborah

You know, when we get into these letters at the end of the alphabet, it gets harder to find books with those letters in the titles. So, we have to get a little creative!! Deborah Underwood is the author of the Here Comes — Cat books. I’m just sharing the Christmas one, but the rest are pictured at the end of the post!

Here Comes Santa Cat 

Deborah Underwood
Pictures by Claudia Rueda
Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin, 2014 

From the dust jacket, “Ho, ho…who? Cat! Not again. the holidays are around the corner, and Cat knows what he has to do. But being nice…it doesn’t come naturally. Still, Christmas is a time of year for miracles and with a little luck, even Cat may find the holiday spirit—and a festive surprise of his own.”

Cat is one of LoC’s favorite recurring characters. I reviewed “Here Comes Easter Cat”, “Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat” , and “Here Comes Valentine Cat.” Love, love, love “Here Come … Cat” books! His expressions are priceless! In the illustrations below you’ll see what I mean. The book is written to be read aloud – at least that’s the way I read it – I like to read it to my fursiblings so they can laugh, too.

In this book, Cat dresses up as Santa so he can give himself a Christmas gift – he doesn’t quite understand the process of giving just yet. But he learns and gets a very special treat in the end! Maybe this would be a good book for some naughty kittens out there so they can learn to be nice!! No negatives on these pages. Just wonderful, fabulous, laugh-out-loud-funny Cat!!!!

Rating 5 out of 5 paws – and we wouldn’t have it any other way!!!!

Reviewer: Simon

 

Here are the other books – well worth the time to check out and laugh yourself silly!

 

 

 

A to Z: T – THE Grannyman

There were other “T” books I could have used, but I really wanted to share with you this book! It’s by the author of the SkippyJon Jones Books!

The Grannyman 

Judith Byron Schachner
Dutton’s Children’s Books, 1999 

From the dust jacket: “Simon was a very old cat. His family tried their best to take care of him. They kept him comfy in a baby carriage and neat at mealtime, but Simon felt useless. After such a full life, he wondered what an old cat was good for anyway.

“Just when Simon had decided it was all over for him, something soft and small came along to give him lots to do, lots to look forward to—and a brand-new name.

“In words and pictures filled with character, nuance, expression, and love, Judith Byron Schachner pays homage to one special, very old feline in a book for anyone who has lived with and loved a cat.”

My goodness –  a book with my namesake!!! Like me, this Simon is old but unlike me he is blind and deaf (although at the age of 15+ years, my eyesight is rather dim and I do forget where the food is!). Also like me, Simon is loved very much and his family puts up with his messiness, bad breath and crankiness. (Toby says I have bad breath, but he must not be able to smell his own!) This is a marvelous book that will remind the reader that just because we’re old doesn’t mean we are useless!!

We’ve added this book to our wish list because we love it so much. Read this book to your kittens, or just read it yourself; if you have ever loved a cat, you won’t be disappointed—you’ll be enchanted!!

Rating 5 out of 5 paws because although it’s not laugh out-loud funny the way the author’s Skippyjon Jones books are, it is nonetheless both heartwarming and heartbreaking and full of those elusive warm, fuzzy feelings missing from so many books we read.

Reviewer: Simon

 

 

A to Z: R – Rotten Ralph’s Halloween

Rotten Ralph’s Trick or Treat 

Jack Gantos
Illustrated by Nicole Rubel
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986 

From the dust jacket, “Ralph is back, and he’s rotten as ever. And now it’s one of his favorite times of the year—Halloween!

“Wherever Sarah’s cat goes, there’s trouble. And there’s sure to be more when Sarah gets an invitation to a Halloween party that says, ‘Come as the thing you love best’. Of course Sarah must go as Ralph. And that means double trouble.

“Will Sarah’s friends ever forgive her? Will Sarah ever forgive Ralph? As always, Sarah’s love for Ralph shines through, and Ralph is always Rotten Ralph.”

This is the first Rotten Ralph book I’ve read and will likely be the last. It wasn’t the story so much as the illustrations. Or, maybe, it was both. I don’t like reading about ‘rotten’ cats – even if it’s funny and written for kittens. I know kittens can be rotten and they’ll get a kick out of reading about Ralph’s antics (goldfish in the punch bowl; popcorn flying all over the kitchen) but I didn’t really enjoy it. And, I didn’t like the illustrations of Ralph. He’s ugly – and not the ‘so ugly, he’s cute’ ugly. Just plain ugly. Maybe the author and illustrator wanted him that way because he is rotten. But cute kittens can be rotten, too. And I (as always) prefer my illustrated kitties to be cute, beautiful, or at the very least, ugly-cute. Ralph is none of those things and it sort of ruined to story for me.

The good point of the story is no matter how rotten Ralph was, no matter how much Sarah got mad at him and told him off, in the end, she still loves him and forgives him. And it’s that saving grace that didn’t get a super low rating from me. Every kitten (and adult) needs reminding now and then that no matter how rotten they are, their loved ones still love and accept them (even if they get sent to bed without any supper!)

Rating: 3 out of 5 paws – the main message of the story saves it from being in the bottom of the barrel of ratings!

Reviewer:

Simon