Customer Reviews

The Curious Demise of a Contrary Cat

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Lynne Berry, The Curious Demise of a Contrary Cat (Simon and Schuster, 2006)

There are good kids' books, and there are good kids' books. Lynne Berry writes good kids' books, the kind that will both entertain the little ones and fill their adults with a kind of twisted glee that such things with the power to warp and traumatize young minds exist.

Witch decides to have a party, and she wants Cat to help her with various tasks. Cat, of course, is contrary (drat that cat!), and gets more and more aggressively annoying as the story goes on until... well, I read Lynne Berry's first kids' book, Duck Skates, after reading this one. My wife was confused at my disappointed look, and even more so when I said, "well, jeez, no one gets turned into a frog in this one!"

Berry has crafted a minor gem here, telling a story in a pattern of verse that gets surprisingly complex (for a book aimed at the preschool set, anyway) at times, and managing to pack an actual rich, multi-layered story into a very few pages. As good as Berry's lovely verse-- maybe even better-- is Luke LaMarca's gift for illustration. The pictures in the book go so well with the text that it's hard to believe two people were responsible for this tome. It's a grand pairing, and I hope it continues long into the future. ****

A contrary cat. Is there any other kind? Lynne Berry has captured cat-ness in a few swift words and combined this "moi" essence with a frustrated witch trying to have a party for her ghoulish, ghostly, spritely friends and getting no help at all from that dratted cat. Who wins? Luke LaMarca's illustrations are incredible. They'll get this book flying off the shelves. But it's Lynne Berry's brilliance that once again triumphs--creating characters and conflicts that keep you coming back again and again. And satisfied every single time.

Like Robert McCloskey and Ludwig Bemelmans, Lynne Berry has the rare gift of packing a real story - fully realized plot, engaging characters, and nary a lecture in sight - into just a few hundred words. Contrary Cat does all this in a style that's a pleasure to read aloud (something those of us who're required to read the same book 7 times a day understand is no small selling point). This is a fun story whose characters are spot-on; you will immediately feel you know this cat.

And Luke LaMarca's illustrations are perfect. This is one of those books I'd consider buying an extra copy of, just to take out some pages and frame them. There aren't many illustrators whose books I would buy regardless of the writer, but if he keeps this up, he'll surely become one of them.

I read this to my two year old twins. There is lots of action in the pictures so even though they don't understand the moral to the story it always entertains them. I skip pages as it is too long for them but someday soon we'll read it all the way through. You have to love the end. The illustrations are great. I bought this one as a gift for a friend with a 3 & 5 year old.