Kitten's First Full Moon Book Review

1.      BIBLIOGRAPHY

      Henkes, Kevin.  2004. KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON. Ill. by Henkes, Kevin. New Year, Greenwillow. ISBN 0060588284

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

A little kitten thought the full moon was a little bowl of milk in the sky, so she tried to get it to drink by chasing, climbing, and racing after the moon. However, all of her attempts failed because the little kitten did not realize how far away the moon really was. After several unsuccessful attempts at capturing the moon, she returned home sad and exhausted from her attempts to capture the moon. When the little kitten returned home, she discovered a real bowl of milk waiting for her on the porch.  

3.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS

After reading this picture book, I was impressed by the illustrations and the simple to understand, yet kind words. First, the illustrations were well-designed, and it portrayed the little kitten’s actions and emotions without having to use real words. On page 3 and 4, the text described the little kitten’s actions, but the illustrations did a great job of showing the shock of ending up with a bug in her mouth by the kitten’s wide-eyed expression. I believe illustrations like this capture a child’s imagination and make the book funnier. Another instance is on page 24 the text only stated that “she (the kitten) went back home”, but the six successive illustrations not only showed the little kitten returning home, but also conveyed the tiredness and frustration  the little kitten felt.  By looking at the illustrations, the reader could see and understand the little kitten’s disappointment without understanding the words. In the book, the illustrations play an important role in expressing what author wants the reader to know even though the pictures are not colorful. I believe that the use of black and white color emphasizes the darkness of nigh and the whiteness of the moon.

The second strength is the pattern and structure which makes it simple for children to follow and predict the outcome. For instance, when the little kitten chased the full moon, she ran down the sidewalk, though the garden, past the field, and by the pond. The sentence structure was repeated, similar to each other, and easy to follow. Therefore, young children are able to predict what would happen next. Furthermore, I also saw some comparisons throughout the book, such as unlucky to lucky, white to black. Even though young readers may not find them immediately, the balance was designed to make the book more accessible.

Another interesting part I really liked was the humorous plots based on the perspective of children. Author Kevin Henkes added some humorous moments where the little kitten closed her eyes, stretched her neck, opened her mouth, but unintentionally ended up with a bug on her tongue. The little kitten wanted to catch the moon, but each time she tried, she failed in a funny way. These funny actions of the kitten represent young children’s common behaviors. When children see these things, they may have a similar feeling to the little kitten. It is a wonderfully charming picture book, and I would highly recommend this book to young readers.

4.    REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

               Kitten's First Full Moon won the 2005 Caldecott Medal - The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. Along with the Newbery Medal, it is the most prestigious American children's book award.

Vona Van Cleef, a librarian from El Paso, TX., wrote that she purchased the book because it was the 2005 Caldecott winner. She said that it has been one of her 18-month-old grandson's favorite books. She recommends the book for younger children and mentions that the book is on the Texas 2X2 list for children 2 years-old to the 2nd grade comprised by the Texas Library Association (Amazon, 2011).

When I read this book in Chinese for my friend’s 5 year-old, he loved it.  He laughed out loud when he saw the illustrations on page 3 and 4, as the little kitten tried to lick the moon thinking it was milk and got a bug on her tongue. He was very curious about what was going to happen next. He said the little kitten is cute, funny, but not very smart.  

      5. CONNECTIONS

                  Another picture book, A Good Day, was also created by Kevin Henkes. The book employed a similar illustration style, using thick lines and uncluttered illustrations, as Kitten's First Full Moon. Four creatures have a bad day at the beginning of the story, but by the end of story, the bad day has turned out to be a good one after all (Amazon, 2011).  The two pictures book both tell young readers that sometimes a bad day or making a mistake can end up with something good coming out of it, even though it might be frustrating initially. 

I found the children's book, Black and White, is a relative book using the black and white drawing style and also was a Caldecott Medal award winner.

      Macaulay, David. 2005. BLACK AND WHITE. Sandpiper. ISBN 0618636870

      Henkes, Kevin. 2007. A Good Day. New Year, Greenwillow. ISBN 006114018X

      Reference

      Amazon. com., accessed Feb 4, 2011, http://www.amazon.com/Good-Day-Kevin-Henkes/

      Amazon. com., accessed Feb 4, 2011,http://www.amazon.com/Kittens-First-Full-Kevin-Henkes/dp/0060588284

       The article is created on Feb. 7, 2011