Randall de Sève

First sentence: This story is not about a kitten. A kitten, hungry and dirty, scared and alone, meowing sadly, needing a home. This story is not about the dog who stopped when it heard the kitten, hungry and dirty, scared and alone, meowing sadly, needing a home. This story is not about the dog's people who listened, or the dog who stopped when it heard the kitten...

Premise/plot: This picture book celebrates a community that come together to rescue a kitten. The storytelling format is loosely inspired by "The House That Jack Built...." but perhaps lacking some of the clever rhythm.

My thoughts: I don't know that the repetitive nature of this format works when the rhythm is so clunky and not quite right. I think the story of a community coming together could be super compelling. And for many readers--less picky readers--this one could still work quite well.… (más)

This tale was apparently inspired by the rescue of a kitten from under a car outside the author’s home with the help of his “huge-hearted” Brooklyn neighbors. The story is told in the cumulative style of “The House That Jack Built,” in which action or dialogue repeats and builds as the tale progresses. It begins:

“This story is not about a kitten.

A kitten, hungry and dirty,
scared and alone,
meowing sadly,
needing a home.”

From there it uses repetition and rhythm to advance the plot, adding a dog who found the kitten, the woman who held the dog who found the kitten, the twins who brought a box to the woman for the kitten, and so on.

In the end, through the efforts of many participants, the kitten is now “full-bellied and clean, no longer alone, purring happily. Home.”

It concludes:

“This story is about the
stopping
and listening,
the holding
and bringing,
the offering
and asking
and working together
it takes, sometimes, to get there.”

Award-winning illustrator Carson Ellis uses bold colors in her pictures of a neighborhood filled with little details readers will enjoy identifying.

Evaluation: Readers four and over will delight in this feel-good animal rescue story that would make a very fun book to read aloud to a group of kids, with good lessons about kindness and cooperation.… (más)