Richie's Picks: CAT THE CAT WHO IS THAT? by Mo Willems,
HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, February 2010, 24p., ISBN: 978-0-06-172840-2
"Everyday folks are waking up to the need for one another
We're on our way
making the world a better place."
-- The Staple Singers, "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend"
Last night I was crafting a lecture for my library school students about
children's multicultural programming in libraries. Working on trying to
articulate the underlying reasons why such programs are so necessary and
important, I just could not get this book out of my head.
"Blarggie! Blarggie!"
Last week I'd gotten an email from Sharon Levin that Mo Willems, the
Pigeon guy, was coming to a nearby town for a midday bookstore event. While
I've met Mo before at publisher functions, I've never seen him in action with
kids so this sounded like fun. I recalled that, just a few days earlier,
I'd unpacked and shelved a couple of early reader books he'd written. I
figured to grab them on my way out so I'd have the opportunity to get on the
book signing line afterward and say hi.
It had been a busy morning, and I had just about enough time to get down
to Petaluma as I found the early reader books on the shelf, hopped in the
pickup, and sped down my long, bumpy driveway. I hadn't yet gotten a chance
to look at the books so, at red lights, while willing the lights to please
change quickly so that I might arrive on time, I began to read:
"Cat the Cat, who is that?
"It's Mouse the Mouse!
Hi, Mouse the Mouse!
Hello there!
"Cat the Cat, who is that?
"It's Duck the Duck!
Hi, Duck the Duck!
A pleasure as always!*
(*Note that Duck the Duck is holding a Pigeon doll.)
Okay. Cool. Predictable sequence combined with a touch of clever, urbane
dialogue.
"Cat the Cat likes her friends
Sure do!
Now I have turned onto Petaluma Boulevard North, and I am in the home
stretch with just two minutes to go when (Grumble, grumble.) I have to stop for
another red light, this one at the intersection with Bailey Avenue, and so
I reach over and turn the page, and there it is: a large unidentified
creature with four arms, three legs, blue tongue, and eyes up on eyestems, who
is focused on carefully stacking little building blocks.
"Cat the Cat, who is THAT?
EEP!
And this is what it is all about, folks. Being a little kid and
encountering Somebody Who Looks Different than me or any of my friends.
Cat the Cat is the leader of this crew. What is her reaction?
"I have NO idea
Blarggie! Blarggie!*
(*Exclaims the...whatever it is)
Oh my gosh. And she* speaks a different language.
(*He/she is wearing a red top with a pink heart so I am making the
admittedly sexist assumption that this is a female.)
"Maybe*
(*Cat the Cat is pondering)
"It's a NEW friend!
Blarggie! Blarggie!*
Blarggie! Blarggie!**
(* Exclaims the new friend)
(**Responds Cat the Cat)
And so while I expect some to see this book merely as one of any number of
interchangeable predictable sequence early reader books, I am telling you
that this book will change the world for the better every single time a
four or five or six year old reads it and internalizes the concept that a
strange-looking or strange-sounding kid is nevertheless a kid; that meeting new
kids is fun; and that one never knows what a future best friend is going
to look or sound like.
Building a peaceful and happy world does not begin with governments. It
begins with the way little kids perceive and react to diversity. Embracing
that diversity is the importance of multicultural programming and that is
the importance of this fun, little book.
And if you have never seen Mo Willems in action in front of kids, you are
really missing something.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks _http://richiespicks.com_ (http://richiespicks.com/)
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator _http://groups.yahoo.com/middle_school_lit/_
(http://groups.yahoo.com/middle_school_lit/)
Moderator _http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EcolIt/_
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EcolIt/)
_http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/faculty/partingtonr/partingtonr.php_
(http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/faculty/partingtonr/partingtonr.php)
FTC NOTICE: Richie receives free books from lots of publishers who hope he
will Pick their books. You can figure that any review was written after
reading and dog-earring a free copy received. Richie retains these review
copies for his rereading pleasure and for use in his booktalks at schools
and libraries.
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