Sumitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
It is obvious from the beginning of the adorable wordless story Chicken and Cat Clean Up by Sara Varon, that Chicken and Cat our two title characters are very different. Chicken is up early making breakfast, when Cat is just rolling out of bed. Cat is daydreaming about getting the perfect pet. Chicken is reminding Cat it’s time to go to work. Chicken and Cat have a house-cleaning business, however Cat seems to lack focus. Cat would rather dance or eat than clean. And Cat’s kind of clumsy. But Cat is good at something, something that might help save the day!
Cats
The Clouds Above
Submitted by Tess from Lexington Park!
I love The Clouds Above by Jordan Crane. It could be Where the Wild Things Are for a new generation. Simon, and his cat Jack, while trying to avoid their despicable teacher “Missus Poe,” find a mysterious staircase leading to seemingly no where from the roof of their school. Of course, they decide to climb it, and at the top they find a cloud named Perch (the birds named him). Perch decides to fly them somewhere warmer, and so begins their adventure. This is a really fun story for any fans of weather, cats, and running away from school!
Hug Time
Hug Time is an adorable story by Patrick McDonnell, creator of the “Mutts” comic strip series. Jules is a kitten who is so filled with love, he wants to give the whole world a hug, so he makes a Hug To-Do List and sets off. He hugs his friends, and all the birds in the park. He gets on a boat to find a whale to hug. He travels to Africa to hug an elephant. He explores the rain forest and discovers a new species (which he promptly hugs). He hugs a tiger, a panda, even a wombat (hooray)! He even goes to the north pole to hug a polar bear. While we may not be able to hug the world, we can start spreading the love by hugging those closest to us.
Little Beauty
No doubt inspired by the stories of gorillas who have been trained to speak sign language and care for pets comes Little Beauty by Anthony Browne. In it we meet a very special gorilla who has everything he needs, except a friend. He communicates to his handlers that he desires company and they provide him with a kitten. The gorilla loves his cat. He feeds her milk and honey, carries her everywhere he goes, takes naps with her, they even go to the potty together! But one night they watch a movie and it makes the gorilla very angry! When he smashes the TV set in a rage, the zookeepers wonder if they should take his kitty away. Find out the thrilling conclusion to this saga by checking out Little Beauty today!
Cat & Mouse
Cat & Mouse by Ian Schoenherr was one of my favorite books last year, but it kicked up a bit of controversy among my colleagues in the children’s librarian community (and what a community it is! I’m so proud to be a member). Schoenherr adapts a few well-known nursery rhymes, “I Love My Little Kitty,” “Hickory Dickory Dock,” and “Eeny Meeny Miney Mo,” into a Tom-and-Jerry-esque romp between a saucer-eyed cat and an acrobatic mouse, natural enemies who turn out to be best friends in the end. The illustrations are strikingly detailed. I think they’re just gorgeous! But you may want to have a discussion with your child about the proper way to treat animals, before and after you read it (some might say the mouse is a little malicious).
Mouse Paint
Mouse Paint is one of several wonderful books concerning mice by Ellen Stoll Walsh. In this installment Walsh’s mice are hiding from the cat, as usual, when they discover three jars of paint–one red, one yellow, and one blue. They, of course, jump right in (why not? there’s a jar for each of them), and start dribbling colors onto a white piece of paper. When they step in each other’s paint puddles (and do a little mouse dance) they discover that mixing colors together creates new colors!This is a fun book to help teach your child about colors, maybe with a craft to reinforce the lesson?