A tale of feline heroism from 15th-century Holland. Katje the cat leads a near-perfect life with Nico the miller, until he marries. Lena is clearly not a cat person, and when infant Anneke is born, Katje, despite obvious mutual affection between baby and cat, is banished to the mill. But when a heavy rainstorm causes the dike to break, it’s the loyal cat that dashes to Anneke as the floodwaters rise, rocking the cradle to keep it from being swamped as it’s swept through the flooded town. Needless to say, Katje’s billet is assured from that time on. Woelfle’s tale is told in a stately storyteller’s voice. The third-person narrative is filtered through the cat’s point-of-view, illuminating the special relationship between human and cat. Bayley’s (All for the Newborn Baby, 2000, etc.) delicate watercolor pencil illustrations are full of detail, harkening back to the medieval Dutch and Flemish painters. These full-color illustrations are complemented by Delft blue tiles at the left of each page, the tiny details of which echo the action in the main illustrations—a dead mouse is depicted with tiny feet in the air on one tile, while the accompanying picture shows a determined Katje chasing mice through the mill. It would be an altogether pleasing piece of bookmaking except for the choice of a Calligraphic typeface, whose slanting, ornate letters are presumably meant to heighten the historic feel of the work but which is ultimately hard on the eyes and detracts from the overall design. A pity, but the work overall represents a nicely done alternative to the many dog-as-hero stories for children. An author’s note follows the story, detailing the historical events that inspired the story. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1347-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
