Wednesday, October 25, 2017

If You See A Kitten

If You See A Kitten. John Butler. 2002. Peachtree. 24 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: If you see a cuddly kitten...say, "Ahhh!" If you see a pudgy pig...say, "Peee-ew!" If you see a dozing dormouse...say, "Shhh!" If you see some slimy slugs...say, "Yuck!" If you see a pretty peacock...say, "Oooh!"

Premise/plot: John Butler's If You See A Kitten introduces animals and emotions to the very young. I suppose that is as good a premise as I can do.

My thoughts: I'll start with what I love: I REALLY LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the kitten illustrations on the cover, the title page, and the second spread. Actually, the illustrations are far preferable to the text. I really enjoyed how realistic most of them were. In particular the kitten, the pig, the elephant, and the alligator.

What I liked: I think that parents or teachers could take the basic pattern of this one and have children write and draw their own books.

If you see a kitten....
If you see a puppy....
If you see a friend....
If you see a rainbow....
If you see a cookie...

What I didn't quite love: I wasn't sure why the author wanted little ones to react in specific ways to the animals. I, for one, thought the pig was nearly as adorable as the kitten. Of all the animals presented, only four had positive reactions modeled: the kitten, the dormouse, the peacock, and the elephant.

Text: 2 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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