Mother sends kitten on a wild goose chase
Written: Oct 05 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Bright illustrations catch young ones' eyes; challenges vocabulary
Cons: Mother causes useless journey that tires kitten out; predictability could be boring for older readers
The Bottom Line: Had the kitten gone on her journey prior to asking her mother for help, I would have felt differently about the book as a whole.
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| dandj's Full Review: Have You Got My Purr? Books |
One day kitten is feeling a bit sad. She can make many noises except for her favorite . . . a purr. She's afraid she's lost it, and goes to her mother to share her concern. Mother simply tells her that she'll find it if she waits. Well . . . kitten was determined to locate it as soon as possible, so off she goes to ask others.
All around the farm she travels, asking the different farm animals from the dog to the sheep and even the mouse. Each animal makes their own noise, showing that they don't have her purr and suggesting she ask another. By the time she's been to everyone dark has fallen, and she's exhausted. The wise owl tells her that she should go see her mother. She's certain to find her purr there.
Back to the barn kitten goes, and mother explains that kitten has had her purr all along. It's inside of her and can be heard whenever she's happy. Kitten snuggles down next to her mother, and, sure enough, there it is!
I have mixed feelings about this story. Initially, I thought it was cute, although the whole searching from animal to animal thing has been done so many times before. When I got to the end, however, and realized that kitten's mother had just, basically, sent her on a wild goose chase, I wasn't all that thrilled. Poor little kitten had done nothing but search all day for something because mother had to play word games instead of being forthcoming when presented with her child's concerns. I don't know. It just left a sour impression with me.
The text does present a satisfying challenge to some readers in the 4-8-year-old age range. Words such as "scampered, paddock, and discouraged" may give their vocabulary a workout. On the other hand, I think that readers on the higher end of that range could become bored with the story. Younger ones will love making the barnyard animal noises (making this a great read-aloud for children 2 and up), but the predictability will prevent others from getting as much out of it.
The illustrations by Tim Warnes are brightly-colored and cartoonish, definitely eye-catching. They can certainly not be described as horribly detailed, but there's nothing wrong with simplicity in children's book illustrations so long as it coincides with the feel of the story.
In the end, I can't give much of a recommendation for Judy West's Have You Got My Purr? It's not very original, and the benefit of the challenging words doesn't override the fact that the kitten was sent on a tiring search because mom wasn't much of a help during a perceived crisis.
Recommended:
No
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dandj
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Member: Danielle Reid
Location: Michigan
Reviews written: 439
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In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season ~ Dave Barry
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