picture book babble

Max and I read a couple more "cat" books for Becky's Young Readers Challenge. If you've read any of the previous posts we've done for this challenge, you've probably reached the conclusion that these reviews are not particularly discriminating. And on this point, you would be correct. There's just no two ways about it--if a book has a cat in it, it's going to get rave reviews from little Maxidoodle. Well, unless a cat gets hurt...that would definitely not go over well.

So, which two books got the Maxi seal of approval this month?




The Scaredy Cats by Barbara Bottner and Victoria Chess.

A story about a family of cats who talk themselves into being afraid of everything, and thus have no fun. (They remind me a bit of Aunt Josephine from The Wide Window.)


Me: So, a winner?

Max: Yes.

Me: What did you think of it?

Max: It was silly. But those cats sure weren't very smart! Who would ever be too scared to go out to breakfast?!! I'd never pass that up!

Me: Me neither. So, do you think the cats wised up and will be braver tomorrow?

Max: I sure hope so, or they're going to starve to death.

The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben.

The story of a cat who lives with and is adored by an old woman. They live in France in a house by the sea. But the old woman dies, and all her possessions, including the cat, are shipped to the north of France and forgotten. The book shows the cat's journey back to the house by the sea, as he walks across France becoming weaker and scragglier as he goes. It has a happy ending as he reaches the familiar house by the sea.

Me: Did you enjoy this book?

Max: Yes. But it was sad.

Me: It did have a very sad feel to it, didn't it? And yet at the end, the cat found new people to love him. Do you think he's going to be happy living in the house by the sea again?

Max: Yeah. I wonder if he likes kids.

Me: I don't know, but that's a good question. I bet if these kids take care of him, he'll like them just fine, don't you?

Max: Yeah. But they better be gentle.

Of the two books, this one was definitely my favorite. It definitely did have a melancholy, and very tender, feel to it. And the artwork fit it perfectly, with impressionist style paintings. (Shhh...don't tell Max, but I really didn't like The Scaredy Cats all that much.)