Customer Reviews

Christmas for a Kitten

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Few animal stories are more appealing to young readers than those featuring an irresistible kitten - mix in Christmas, and you have a sure winner.

Artist Layne Johnson, the owner of two cats, brings drama and warmth to his lovely full-page paintings which begin with the birth of a kitten in barn. He's safe there with his mother until a cruel person, evidently the barn owner, decides there are too many cats and stuffs the kitten into a sack. After a short but very frightening ride the kitten is literally thrown away.

Fortunately, he remembers what his mother taught him about hunting, and he is able to fend for himself in the woods. Eventually, on a very cold winter day people come to the hillside where he hides. They are cutting down a tree; he doesn't understand why. But when he sees the trunk of their car open, it looks like a warm place to him and he jumps in.

Once the people reach their home the kitten jumps out of the reopened trunk and is able to skitter into the house. What wonders he sees! It's Christmas Eve and there are many beautiful decorations as well as a glass of milk by the fireplace.

But, the house is also home to a cat-hating dog that the people love. What will happen to the kitten now? Santa has some surprises in store for the kitten, and delighted youngsters as well.

- Gail Cooke

To those who find this story too harsh--a kitten taken from its mother, abandoned, and forced to survive in the wild--think of how /often/ that occurs in real life. IF you find it upsetting, have you done anything about it? Donated to the animal shelter, neutered/spayed your pet, taken in a humane society stray? The story has a beautiful ending, where Santa takes the kitten home to live with him, instead of leaving it in the home with the dog, where it wouldn't be happy, or abandoning it outside again. My partner and I have been "Santa" to two abandoned kittens and a former feral tomcat. I think this story emphasizes to children the need to be responsible and loving towards their pets. The illustrations are magnificent, and one can tell the artist was familiar with the anatomy and gestures of real cats.

Christmas for a Kitten is a story that has you living each adventure right along with the kitten. The writing and illustration come alive and bring warmth to this tale and transport the reader right into the story. The reader is taken on each adventure with the kitten. A perfect book to share the tradition of a Holiday read. Santa has a special Christmas in store for this kitten! This is a delightful book for both the young and young at heart reader.

Holiday books are so much fun, but this one really brightens the season. Robin Pulver has done it again with her great storytelling. And Layne Johnson is truly one of today's best illustrators. This book is a must for all children.

Christmas for a Kitten, written by Robin Pulver and illustrated by Layne Johnson, tells the story of a kitten, abandoned in the wintertime. The unnamed kitten is tossed out of a car window, in a sack, in the woods. He doesn't give up. He hides in a hollow log, and uses the lessons his mother has taught him to hunt for food. When his hunting takes him near the brightly lit windows of houses, he is wistful. He's resourceful, but lonely.

One day the kitten sees a family in the woods, cutting down a tree. He sneaks into their open trunk, and slinks in through the open door of their house. There, as a tiny stowaway, he finds food and warmth, but also danger (from a fierce dog). He also engages in the sort of destruction that any kitten will engage in, given access to cookies, milk, and a shiny decorated Christmas tree. It's clear that he won't be able to stay with this family, given the destruction he wreaks, and the already entrenched dog. But in the end, he is saved by a Christmas Eve miracle.

The old-fashioned watercolor illustrations suit the mood of this nostalgic story. The kitten is clearly based on a real-life model. He looks ready to climb off of the page. I don't actually care much for cats, but he still tugged at my heartstrings. I think that young kids, three and four year olds, will like the story itself, because it's told from the perspective of the kitten. He doesn't know why these people would be chopping down a tree, or what this white liquid in a glass is, or who this guy is who comes down the chimney. Kids who do know what these things mean will feel smart, while maintaining compassion for the little kitten.

I think that this will make a wonderful read-aloud for preschoolers and early elementary school kids as they get ready for Christmas. But parents should be prepared to hear "Can we get a kitten?" before the first read through is even completed.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on December 6th, 2006.

Robin Pulver's "Christmas for a Kitten" is a great book for those looking for holiday reading for and with their kids. It's a warm tale of an abandoned kitten fending for itself in the winter wilds until it hitches a ride in a car along with a Christmas tree, only to find a cat-chasing dog at its new home. Santa himself comes to the rescue, and newly christened "Christmas Cookie" makes the rounds with Santa on his sleigh. The kitten finds a new home with Santa himself. The story is sure to please youngsters, and the illustrations are exquisite--beautiful, realistic paintings that reflect true knowledge of cat behavior.

We bought this book for our 5 and 3 year old as an early Christmas present, and to say they like it is an understatment. They've asked for it to be read as a bedtime story several times, and my 3-year-old daughter has named the stuffed kitty she received for Christmas "Cookie" after the cat in the book. On Christmas Eve they reminded us to leave out cookies and milk for Santa and also some cat food for Cookie!
I'm sorry to those of you who found the book to be depressing or devastating. I guess I don't know what to say. The first time that we read it, at the end my 5 year old asked what happened to Cookie's mommy and did Cookie ever see her again. So I very quickly made up another chapter- I told him that after Cookie went to sleep , Santa went back and got Cookie's mommy (it was his day off so he could do this!) and brought her back to North Pole with him, and now Cookie and his mommy share a basket and a blanket right next to Mrs Claus's oven, where it's nice and warm and it always smells like fresh baked goodies. I just improvised I guess, and now we are being asked to make up bedtime stories about Cookie and his mommy and their adventures at the North Pole. So I give it a thumb's up, it's really fired my kid's imaginations!

Layne Johnson's art is perfect for this holiday book. Santa is gorgeous in vivid colors. And the animals are playful and spectacular. Do yourself a favor and buy this for kids of all ages.

"Christmas for a Kitten" is a 9 inch by 11 inch beautifully illustrated Christmas book for kids. The reader will be captivated by the illustrator's portrayal of fear and happiness in the eyes of the kitten as it experiences some of the most horrible experiences and most wonderful experiences in the book. The beautifully rendered full color full page illustrations (on every other page) really make this book. You could probably get the meaning of the whole story by simply dwelling on the illustrations. "Christmas for a Kitten" is not your typical or predictable animal Christmas tale. The depressing but realistic beginning of the story may be a bit too much for younger readers. The story opens in a barn far away from the North Pole where a kitten who never heard of Christmas was sleeping snugly against his mother. Suddenly the kitten finds himself stuffed into a world of darkness in a burlap sack and is being jostled about. The kitten is transported to a remote location. The kitten hears a cruel voice saying, "Too many cats," and feels himself being flung through the air and landing with a bruising thud. I must say that the vividness of this beginning event is a bit devastating to the reader. The author uses this event to set the stage for this kitten to find real happiness in a most unusual place. Readers will be glued to the story from beginning to end as they follow and experience the diificult journey of a kitten on his journey to find Christmas. Be aware that the beginning of the story is a bit sensitive but realistic. Don't allow that sensitive beginning to deter you from enjoying a wonderful picture book with a good, not great, Christmas plot.

This is a beautiful story with beautiful illustrations. Though the begining is heart breaking, it has a beatuiful ending. A great story for any animal lover that loves happy endings.