PRETEND YOU'RE A CAT
by Jean Marzollo ; illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
An invitation to creative movement: "Can you hiss? / Can you scat? / Can you purr / Like a cat? / What else can you do like a cat?"…or a dog, a fish, a bee, or a variety of other animals.
Marzollo neatly avoids sounding singsong-y despite a repetitive verse structure; however, rather than a coda or an invitation for readers to continue on their own, she just stops ("What else can you do like a bear?"), leaving the illustrator to suggest a nap on the last page. Pinkney's exuberant watercolors make clever visual matches between the rather feral-looking animals and the children—some in make-up, masks, or costumes, all vigorously dancing, crawling, slithering, etc.
A familiar idea (cf. Ryder's Snail's Spell, 1981) in an unusually lively rendition with superior illustrations.
(Picture book. 3-6)