August 8, 2022
If, as the title indicates, this story isn’t about the kitten that appears in its early pages—a black and white feline, with warm orange eyes and a quizzical expression—what is it about? Readers don’t find out until later, but the reveal is worth the wait. In the meantime, incantatory lines pile up, “House that Jack Built”–style, as de Sève (Zola’s Elephant) describes the kitty (“hungry and dirty/ scared and alone”), the dog that hears its mewing beneath a car, the dog’s people who follow, and the neighbors of various ages, body types, and skin tones materializing to help. Pretty soon, everybody’s working to extricate the animal. Using loose, naïf-style gouache and hand-lettered word balloons, Caldecott Honoree Ellis portrays a community united: faces peer around the space under the car, and visually varied hands hold the flaps of the kitten’s box as neighbors, one by one, face the next problem—what to do with the kitten. One voice, a child’s, makes a suggestion (“Could we?”) in this celebration of cooperation and simple kindness that portrays a glad coming-together above all. Ages 4–8. Agent (for de Sève and Ellis): Steven Malk, Writers House.
October 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 2 A kitten cries out from underneath a car, desperately in need of a rescue. But the title insists that the story is not about the little cat, so readers must press on. Curiously, the text then asserts that the story is also not about the dog who heard that kitten mewing, and it's certainly not about the dog's owners, who realize why the pup stops to peer under the car. So what is the book about? The text repeats and adds another line with every page--a woman on a jog stops to hold the dog so the owners can investigate, a neighbor brings over a saucer of milk--until the entire immediate neighborhood is invested in the kitten's well-being and the book's soft heart is revealed. The seemingly simple concept is emotionally complex, and the amusing repetition makes for a satisfying read. Ellis' lively gouache illustrations are a pleasure to peruse, depicting a delightfully diverse neighborhood and smoothly shifting from wide neighborhood views to a closer kitten perspective. A warm and witty ode to community and kindness.
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October 1, 2022
K-Gr 3-The tiny black-and-white kitten is hungry, dirty, and alone. She needs a home. But this story is mostly of how first a dog, then a mom and little girl, and then neighbors of all kinds come to the rescue. It's about community, neighborliness, and cooperation more than about just one lost kitten. Full-color, detailed illustrations add to the cumulative rhymes and show how working together benefits not only the rescued kitten but all the people who build friendships and find commonality based on their mutual concern. This is an uplifting and heartfelt story without being maudlin, and children will enjoy both the story of a rescued kitten and the rhyme that builds from simple to complex, reflecting the intricate mosaic that is a neighborhood. Recommended for younger students for independent reading and as a read-aloud. VERDICT A lost kitten's rescue shows how working together and being neighborly benefits everyone.-Eva Elisabeth VonAncken
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2022
This heart-tugging story centers on "a kitten, hungry and dirty, / scared and alone, / meowing sadly, / needing a home." On a walk in the neighborhood with their dog, a child and adult ("the dog's people") spot the kitten under a car. The dog barks at the kitten; a woman jogging nearby calms the dog; adult twins carrying boxes to or from a moving truck donate an empty box for the kitten; a man drinking tea on his front porch offers it milk; and everyone carefully coaxes it into the box. The child gains a new pet, and the kitten ends up "now full-bellied and clean, / no longer alone, / purring happily. / Home." De Seve (Zola's Elephant) constructs the story cumulatively; as the tale unfolds, she regularly negates the notion that its beating heart is about one character alone -- the kitten or the child or the neighbors. Ultimately, instead, it's about "stopping / and listening / and...offering / and asking / and working together." The final pages are immensely rewarding: Ellis (In the Half Room, rev. 9/20), who paints a diverse and idiosyncratic community of caring and concerned neighbors -- strangers no more -- gathers everyone together in the kitten's (and her people's) home. Dialogue on the concluding spread reads: "I can't believe you two lived next door this whole time and we never met." That is precisely what the story is about. Julie Danielson
(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from September 1, 2022
In this gently rhyming cumulative tale, a stray kitten is the catalyst for neighbors coming together. The initial double-page spread--which repeats the book's title--shows a stylized view of a neighborhood where houses sit close to each other, telephone wires overhead, and vehicles are parked in the street near gray trash cans (one overturned) and blue recycling bins. The palette is full spectrum, with grays dominant over subdued greens and blues. After a page turn, we see a kitten huddling near trash underneath a car: "A kitten, hungry and dirty / scared and alone / meowing sadly / needing a home." Each succeeding part of the text introduces a new, helpful character, � la "The House That Jack Built" ("This story is not about the dog // who stopped when it heard the kitten"), always beginning with a phrase about how this story is not about that character and eventually ending with the litany about the kitten. The climax occurs when the kitten has been fed, rescued, and named but has no home. At this point, the tried-and-true narrative style deviates appropriately with text that includes short speech balloons. It partially reemerges for an enormously satisfactory and sweet ending. Perfect for read-alouds, the thoughtfully created text is complemented by artwork that shows a happy diversity in the neighbors' appearances, from stocky, red-bearded twins to a young Black girl who takes in the kitty. A winsome take on "The House That Jack Built" and a tribute to the power of community. (Picture book. 3-7)
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
July 1, 2022
This heart-tugging story centers on "a kitten, hungry and dirty, / scared and alone, / meowing sadly, / needing a home." On a walk in the neighborhood with their dog, a child and adult ("the dog's people") spot the kitten under a car. The dog barks at the kitten; a woman jogging nearby calms the dog; adult twins carrying boxes to or from a moving truck donate an empty box for the kitten; a man drinking tea on his front porch offers it milk; and everyone carefully coaxes it into the box. The child gains a new pet, and the kitten ends up "now full-bellied and clean, / no longer alone, / purring happily. / Home." De Seve (Zola's Elephant) constructs the story cumulatively; as the tale unfolds, she regularly negates the notion that its beating heart is about one character alone -- the kitten or the child or the neighbors. Ultimately, instead, it's about "stopping / and listening / and... offering / and asking / and working together." The final pages are immensely rewarding: Ellis (In the Half Room, rev. 9/20), who paints a diverse and idiosyncratic community of caring and concerned neighbors -- strangers no more -- gathers everyone together in the kitten's (and her people's) home. Dialogue on the concluding spread reads: "I can't believe you two lived next door this whole time and we never met." That is precisely what the story is about.
(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)