At every book fair I find a hit book! This time, this February, the BIG hit is "Katie Loves the Kittens!" Oh--my--goodness!! Katie is the most adorable dog! Look at that cover! Katie appears to be chasing the kittens, but not so, oh no! Katie LOVES those kittens. In fact, she is so excited to have them in her house that she must, no MUST howl her approval. Of course, that howl reaches the mythic levels, the archetypal levels for those kitties--the archetypal level of the BEAST! They are terrified! Katie the BEAST!
Simply put, the above paragraph tries to show the reactions of two groups of critters upon contact with each other: Katie the fat, happy, established dog and three little kittens, newly adopted, newly taken from their mom. Three little kittens a bit fearful, a bit timid, but at least with each other. Safe, so to speak--UNTIL Katie howls at them. Yikes!
Oh, I could go on and on simply relaying the reaction of the kitties and the dog upon meeting each other. John Himmelman, an illustrator new to this librarian, has become a big hit with both students and mothers. During the week of book fair I read this book to two groups of students, who in their turn, wanted to share the book with their friends. If a mother asked for a "good" book to buy, I showed this book. It sold out! Everyone fell in love with Katie and the kittens!
If you have ever seen a comedian imitating the difference between dogs and cats, you know that they show a dog being so excited, tail a-wagging, tongue a-licking, playing the I'm-so-glad-to-see-you routine dogs use to greet their humans. On the other hand, a cat will sway its body a bit for some lovely petting, but act as if she is saying, "Yo, Human. Aren't you glad to see me?" So, keeping the dog scenario in mind, please open the book to "Katie Loves the Kittens."
There's Sara Ann, the human, showing the three unaware kittens to Katie, who already is on her hind legs, tail wagging, yes, already so excited. "As soon as she saw them, she howled, 'AROOOOO! AROOOOOO!' She always howled like that when she was very happy!" The next page shows the sleepy kitties now WIDE AWAKE and scrambling in all directions: climbing a lampshade, the curtains, scurrying to get under a table.
Sara Ann gathers up her terrified kitties, now snuggled in her arms, safely away from the beast. Their little expressions are so apropos and so pertinent! One is clinging in abject fear to Sara Ann, one is horrified, the third is hilarious--scowling indignantly (now that she is safely ensconced in the human's arms). There's Katie, banished to her bed, and ever so sad. "She did not want to scare the kittens."
And so the book goes, one episode after another, showing poor guileless Katie, trying to get close to the kitties, being punished for scaring them. I think the funniest is the time she crawls in the open window in the dead of night just to get a sniff of them, just to be near the sleeping kitties and Sara Ann. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to a joyfully howling dog!
Spoiler alert:
After several times being returned to her bed, her island of punishment, her island of shame and embarrassment, Katie wakes up to find the three kitties asleep--on top of her. What joy! What bliss! She wants to show that joy by howling and running--but! She doesn't. She even licks the kitties and earns praise from Sara Ann.
I'm pretty sure Katie is a Jack Russell terrier, making her self-control all that much more impressive!
I cannot praise Himmelman enough for capturing such canine and feline emotions, putting the two animals together in such a delightful, joyous story! Personally, my heart is glad -- and the librarian who lives in my skull? She is thrilled to find such an excellent book to share with students for a long time to come!
Did I forget the artwork? Together, we looked at the cover. What you see there is what you get inside. The art is fairly simple, but nothing more is needed in conveying this sweet story.
Personal note: DB, you must add this book to your substitute arsenal! It's just your kind of book!
