Cat humour? On the internet? I know, I know. But these ones really are pretty cute…
Homer, The Library Cat
by Reeve Lindbergh
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978 0 7636 3448 3
Cats and librarians are, let’s face it, a pretty natural stereotypical partnership to exploit – and you can probably even sell those bookworms a few copies, too! Yes, I approach something like this with my inner cynic on full alert, people, which is why I haven’t reviewed many books about librarians and library cats in my day. But this? This is a charmer.
Homer, you see, is a quiet cat. He likes his peace. And one day, he got out, only to discover how very loud the world is. Sneezes, fire bells, and railroads propel him from one place to another until he walks into a quiet building, where he finds… his owner! Yes, the librarian – but this isn’t a tale about how silent libraries are (good thing, they’d lose me on that!). Instead, she’s reading stories to kids, who love having him there, and he finds that he loves them right back.
The story is cute, but not super unique, the verse works okay, but is not inspired. It’s really the illustrations that made me enjoy this so much. They are a little cartoon-y, loose, but with some details that add a lot, and full of comedic expressions and postures that make me laugh. There is, I’d have to say, a little whiff of Quentin Blake or Charlotte Voake about Homer that just amuses me to no end and brings the whole package up from average to very cute.
Tom’s Tweet
Jill Esbaum
Alfred A Knopf
ISBN: 978 0 375 85171 1
Tom, a grouchy hulk of a cat, is in his yard one day when he discovers a wee baby bird sitting in the grass. Sweet! “Hello, breakfast,” he said with a grin.
But somehow… he just. can’t. do it. With one thing and another, he
finds himself looking after the little thing, going waaay beyond just
not eating him when he even chews up worms for the “tweet.” By the end,
the two have totally bonded, and even the mama bird thinks it’s the
start of a beautiful friendship.
This is another case of one aspect outshining the others and elevating the whole. In this case, I don’t generally love computer illustration, though this does have some very funny cartoon-style elements that made me laugh, but the story of this tough cat being slowly broken down (unwillingly) into a hen-pecked softie is funny enough that I just had to share it.