The Comic Adventures of Boots...random thoughts

The Comic Adventures of Boots by Satoshi Kitamura.

Clothed in cozy pjs, snuggled up in a fuzzy blanket, reading a cat book with my favorite little cat lover. Could there possibly be a better way to spend a half hour? No, I didn't think so.

The Comic Adventures of Boots actually contains three separate stories. "Operation Fish Biscuit" tells the story of how Boots lost his favorite sleeping spot in the sun and his clever plan to get it back. In "Pleased to Meet You, Madam Quark," Boots is saved by a duck who then teaches him how to swim. (They have a little less luck with the flying lessons.) And finally, "Let's Play a Guessing Game" is a look at a game of cat charades.

I found the stories to be fun, but really not the most creative I've ever read. But the art...oh my, I absolutely cannot resist these little cats! Seriously, they're just too stinkin' cute for words!

And what does the resident expert on cat books have to say about it all? When asked what he thought of the book overall, he answered, "It was a good book. Really good." And when I asked which story was his favorite, he said, "Uh Mom, they were all the same good." (The pure exasperation with which this was said caused me to read between the lines. What he was too kind to say aloud, but was undoubtedly thinking was, "Don't you know anything, Mom?!!")

Johnny Big Ears, The Feel-Good Friend...random thoughts

Johnny Big Ears, The Feel-Good Friend by John Paul Padilla

Me: So guys, what did you think of the book?

Gray: You mean like a rating?

Me: You could give me a rating, or you could just tell me what you thought about it.

Gray: Well, maybe a 3-. (That's out of 5.)

Max: Yeah, it's a medium book, I guess.

Me: Can you tell me anything you did like about it?

Gray: I don't know.

Me: Do you think it had a good message?

Gray: Yeah. Don't be mean to other people...

Max: Wait, what's a message?

Gray: You know, what's the book trying to tell you.

Max: Oh.

Me: I thought the message was also that we should always remember that we're special just the way we are.

Gray: And we should try to ignore it when other people say mean things about us. Like used to happen to me.

Me: Johnny Big Ears made it sound like it was easy to ignore when kids teased you...

Gray: Well it's not that easy.

Me: I know, sweetie, it isn't. But it is good to always remember how special you are no matter what other kids say.

Max: How come all the kids looked like teenagers when they're all in kindergarten?

Gray: Yeah, those kids look like they're thirteen or fourteen, not five.

Me: I can't argue with you guys there. So any other thoughts?

Max: Well, nothing happened.

Gray: Yeah, it really wasn't much of a story.

--And there you have it, as close to the exact words of our conversation as I can manage. As you can see, the boys didn't love the book. They didn't hate the book.

Personally, I hate to be too hard on a book that really does carry such a positive message, but I did have problems with it. For one thing, I simply couldn't figure out what age this book was directed at. It's about a little boy's first day in kindergarten (although as both Gray and Max said, the kids look more like 8th graders). The message is certainly appropriate for kindergartners, but the book seems far too wordy for most kids that young. And though the boys didn't seem to notice, I had big problems with the constant switching of the tenses. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or just poorly written. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I hate seeing bad examples of writing like that for children who are really just gaining steam in their own writing at this age.

Okay, as I said, I hate to be too hard on this book. If this book can help even one child see him/herself as special and unique just the way they are, then obviously it is truly a worthwhile book. I think that maybe as a mom of a little boy who has been bullied and teased, I was hoping for a little more substance. Oh let's be honest, I was daydreaming about it doing miracles...and that's a terribly unfair starting point to be judging a book from.