Mama Cat Has Three Kittens (Paperback)

by Denise Fleming (Author, Illustrator) "Mama Cat has three kittens, Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris tag along with Mama Cat all day long. Actually, Boris just naps. He snoozes while the others wash their paws, walk the stone wall, sharpen their claws, chase leaves, and engage in other fundamentally feline pastimes. But when the others curl up to nap, Boris stretches, yawns, and comes to life! Denise Fleming, creator of In the Small, Small Pond and In the Tall, Tall Grass, succeeds again with this gorgeous picture book. The bold, exuberant, rich illustrations are artfully crafted with color-saturated handmade paper. Astute youngsters will love finding other creature trios in each picture, plus a hidden mouse! (Ages 3 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
From Peter Rabbit to the Poky Little Puppy, there's one in every family?one offspring who marches to the beat of a different drummer. In Fleming's (In the Tall, Tall Grass) chipper picture book, the odd kitten out is Boris, an orange tabby who prefers to nap while his mother and siblings sharpen their claws and chase leaves. But when Mama Cat and kittens Fluffy and Skinny curl up for a rest, Boris is ready to pounce (if only to find his next napping spot). Fleming's self-proclaimed love of cats (she lives with seven) permeates this somewhat slight but playful outing, as she accurately captures feline behavior and movement. The repetition of simple phrases and actions is also sure to be a hit with toddlers. In her vibrant artwork, composed with boldly colored cotton fiber pulp and stencils, Fleming creates a sense of texture and depth unique to her medium. Mama Cat's luxurious black fur is speckled and contoured with blue and flashes of fuchsia, an unusual but effective color combination, which endows Mama with both dimension and significance. On every page, the cats' eyes shine brightly in varying tones of fluorescent yellow and green. In addition to following the frolicking felines from scene to scene, young children will have great fun spotting trios of caterpillars, ladybugs, snails and bumblebees as well as a leery mouse who manages to stay out of the cats' path. Ages 2-5.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Baby-Preschool
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Owlet Paperbacks (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805071628
• ISBN-13: 978-0805071627
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #237,561 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( F ) > Fleming, Denise
  #31 in	Books > Children's Books > Animals > Cats > Nonfiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to help a beginning reader BEGIN to READ!, August 30, 2004

By	Soaring Heart - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Last library visit my daughter chose MAMA CAT HAS THREE KITTENS. One night recently she came to me and said, "Mommy, I want to read you this book." I remember thinking this would be cute because she'd never said that to me before. Opening the book and pointing to the words she READ the book to me! I couldn't believe it. I had only read it to her maybe five times. I called for Daddy to come, ran to get the camcorder and recorded her reading it again. Later, he said he had read it to her some too. Still, she WOWED me.

This a fantastic book by Mrs. Fleming and it appears that all of hers are, judging by the feedback here at Amazon. Her illustration style is unique--"she pours colored cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils which become the images set in handmade paper." The effect is very bright, vivid and dramatic. The active story follows a busy, frolicking day in the sun of Mama Cat and her three kittens--Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris the napper. It's a FUN story and even includes little surprises to find on EACH page. (There are three identical objects as well as a hidden mama mouse.)

Besides all these features, the BEST PART in my opinion, is the frequent use of the same words which helps build listening skills, perhaps some memorization skills and plenty of Confidence for a beginning reader to BEGIN READING! I am going to look into some more of her books next library visit for sure.

Soar!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such fun, for cat lovers and children alike, July 9, 2002

By	Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mama Cat Has Three Kittens (Hardcover)

Ohio artist Denise Fleming works with paper to create the most extraordinarily detailed illustrations, as here in "Mama Cat Has Three Kittens" and in her other books as well. According to the text on the last page, "The artist used colored cotton rag fiber poured through hand-cut stenciles to create the illustrations for this book." The process sounds somewhat crude, but the result is illustrations of great vibrancy and detail. They are so alive that they very nearly leap off the page.

Mama Cat's children are named Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris. Looks like Boris is always missing out on the fun, as his favorite activity in life is napping. By the end of the book, however, he surprises everyone with his active nature--and then reverts to his usual self so we know that deep down he hasn't changed. It's a fun and reassuring look at how everyone has hidden depths. Great fun to read to little kids, and great fun to have a new reader read to YOU, the parent, as it's short and sweet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great story to read to toddlers, July 17, 2000

By	Robert James (Culver City, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mama Cat Has Three Kittens (Hardcover)

My 3-year old daughter memorized this book by the time she was two. She still loves taking it out and "reading" it to us; the repetitive nature of the book really lends itself to very young children grasping the plot, and the beautiful, distinctive pictures are unlike most I've seen in children's picture-books. They're bold, colorful, and full of simple action. My daughter even used the paperback of this book as a pillow for three weeks; she refused to go to bed without it!