Common Sense Media Review
By Patricia Tauzer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Rambunctious cats hide under flaps, waiting to play.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 2+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Three cats named Tiny, Moonpie, and Andre pop in and out from behind movable flaps, all over the pages of this book, begging the "nice" reader to play with them. They pull out yarn, hit each other with feather-filled pillows, hide in boxes, fall into a fishbowl, and otherwise wreak havoc in the household.
Is It Any Good?
Who can resist playing with silly little kittens who flop and hide, jump, tangle themselves in yarn, and otherwise fill the room with merry mischief? Under flaps of various shapes these cats offer just that kind of fun, the kind young readers especially will enjoy. Of course, the clever format of Viviane Shwarz's book makes the experience all the more exciting and playful.
The title on the bright red cover promises cats, and they are peeking over the edge. On the second page, painted in a bold blue, a narrator, whose words look fresh off the old-fashioned typewriter, cautions that the cats are not "on this page," and so on until the reader finally finds them on the third page, purring contentedly under a quilt. But then the cats speak, and the mayhem begins. One red cat, one blue, and one yellow are painted in bright watercolors, then cut out and set into layered collages sprinkled with sparsely-placed word bubbles that challenge the reader to turn pages, throw the yarn, and even help fish a couple of them out of a fishbowl. As kids blow the dripping kittens dry (as they are asked to do), they will find themselves chuckling at this flap-lifting game...a great way to learn that reading is fun!
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about all the fun the cats are having as they lift flaps and play with the cats. If they have a cat, they can talk about all the silly things their cats do. If they do not, they can imagine what it would be like if playful cats got hold of a ball of yarn, started a pillow fight, hid out in boxes, or tumbled into the fishbowl. They might also enjoy talking about how the author created a book with so much action. How did she decide where to put the flaps? And how do the flaps beg the reader to play?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Viviane Schwarz
- Genre : Picture Book
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Candlewick Press
- Publication date : November 25, 2008
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 2 - 5
- Number of pages : 48
- Last updated : July 13, 2017
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