Customer Reviews

Mr. Putter & Tabby Catch the Cold

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My daughter who is now 8 and I have been reading the Mr Putter and Tabby stories from the very beginning when Mr Putter and Tabby poured the tea. In fact, she has learned to read thanks to this kind hearted old man and his "fine cat." This latest addition as the two of them deal with a common cold is uncommonly good. Cynthia Rylant has managed to convey the lives of two elderly people - Mr Putter and his neighbor, Mrs Teaberry - with dignity, humor and a sense of adventure in everyday living. My daughter loves this story and all the others because of the humorous situations and the likeability of the characters. I love them because as I approach my "Mr Putter years" -- I'm 56 -- I see him as a delightful example of what being an "old man" can be. Likewise I see my daughter learning compassion, acceptance and respect for older people so often missing in children's stories.

I urge any parent -- and especially grandparents -- to add this book and any of the other Mr Putter and Tabby books to their children's (and grandchildren's)reading repetoire.

One day Mr. Putter forgets to put his hat on when he goes out to fetch the newspaper, as he is in such a hurry to read the comics. Soon he has a cold, and his faithful cat Tabby can only comfort him so much. Fortunately, his neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, sends over soup and tea in thermoses brought by her dog Zeke. One thing is still missing... an adventure book, which Zeke will only bring if he can stay and read it with them. What begins as a miserable day becomes "the best cold Mr. Putter ever caught," thanks to the generosity of all his friends. This beginning reader for first and second graders allows its audience to identify with a character who is old enough to be their grandfather, and amuses them with his animal companions. The illustrations by Arthur Howard are, as usual, bold, expressive, and colorful.

I've read the Mr. Putter & Tabby books with both of my children. It's a wonderful series for the beginning reader. This title is my favorite of the entire series. Mr. Putter has a cold and remembers what made him feel better when he was a boy. Chicken soup, some hot tea and an adventure book loaned by Mrs. Teaberry's dog, Zeke make this cold worth having. It perfectly captures just how much fun a sick day can be.

I have all the titles in the series, and of course, I love this one. My children snuggle up and we have read this one over
and over. A must have for Mr. Putter and Tabby fans. Everyone will love the warmth and consideration from Mr. Putters neighbor and her dog, zeke. We should all care so much.

First, it is important to say that this is a wonderful short story. Our boys, 4.5 and 6.5, love the whole series. That said, none of us can ignore the dreadful Kindle formatting. Some pages are mysteriously duplicated. Some exist as images of whole pages from the original book, others as disembodied text without their context. The images are small and occupy only part of the screen, unless you zoom in on them, but then it is impossible to scroll to the next page without exiting zoom mode. All in all, the Kindle format translates extremely poorly to picture books like this.

Mr Putter catches a cold! He thinks back to his younger days when he got sick. His mother always took good care of him. She gave him soup, tea and let him read adventure books. His neighbor Mrs. Teaberry decides to take care of him like his mother use to. She does a great job.

I enjoyed reading this book. I have read others in the series and this one was funny like the others.

This book is good for early readers. If they enjoy the Mr Putter series they will like this one as well.

The Mr. Putter and Tabby series is probably one of the most popular, well done and just plain nice series for this age group (4 - 8) around today. Cynthia Rylant the author, stays right on target with Mr. Putter & Tabby Catch the Cold. You simply get a warm and cozy feeling reading these books to kids and they do so much good. Now keep in mind that I am approaching the age of Mr. Putter and can perfectly relate to him. I have also found that there seems to be an understanding gap prevalent in young children as to just what getting old means and what it is like. The gentle way in which these books portray older people goes along way in bridging this gap.

In this particular story, Mr. Putter goes out without his hat into the snow to fetch the paper and catches a cold. Now I know, as does most of the known universe, that you do not catch a cold simply by going outside in the snow. The reader must remember that this is a short children's book and is hardly the forum to discuss the amazing biological phenomena of disease dissemination discussing vectors, public health issues, cell reproduction, etc. Hey, this is a kid's story and the author has used this as a vehicle to tell her story. Anyway, Mr. Putter catches a cold and despite the best efforts of Tabby, Mr. Putter makes the observation that "it's not good to be old with a cold."

But help is on the way via his good friend and neighbor Mrs. Teaberry and her wonderful dog Zeke, who in the end make Mr. Putter feel as cozy and as spoiled as he was as a young boy and had a cold. Chicken soup, peppermint tea with honey sticks, a good adventure book and a warm dog to snuggle with...what more could you want?

This text is quite good and easily read. This is a chapter book and is excellent to use as a transition book for the little ones. The Illustrations by Arthur Howard, done in pencil sketch and water color, are mellow, colorful and simply fun to look at. They are extremely well executed.

This is an excellent work for grandparents and parents to discuss "getting old" with the young ones and to let them know that old people are actually no different than they are...they just move a bit slower...sometimes.

I like this series and this is a very nice addition. It is a nice cozy read, well written and well illustrated.

Don Blankenship

The Ozarks

i downloaded the kindle for my daughter but it is extremely poorly done. the pictures and text are repetitious and it becomes annoying really quickly. someone needs to pare this down a little and make it more user friendly. wish i hadn't spent the five bucks.

Enjoy each and every Mr. Putter and Tabby books are they are treasures! and great reads!

Other than perpetuating the myth that you get a cold by going outside in the cold without a hat, this was a cute story.