C. Roger Mader – Susanna Leonard Hill

Woo hoo! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday!

So, last Friday I got a text from my sister-in-law who was helping a friend find a home for a cat. Long story short, the cat has found a home (not on Blueberry Hill – in Manhattan 🙂 ) All good, but as a result I have cats on my mind, and that reminded me of this book that I absolutely love.

Title: Lost Cat

Written & Illustrated By: C. Roger Mader

Houghton Mifflin Books For Children, October 2013, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: journey, pets, love (person/pet)

Opening: “Ever since Slipper was a tiny kitten, she’d lived with a little old lady in a little old house in a little old town.”

Brief Synopsis: Slipper has always lived happily with Mrs. Fluffy Slippers, but when Mrs. Fluffy Slippers moves, Slipper accidentally gets left behind in the commotion. Slippers searches for a new home, but not just any home will do – it has to be the right one. Will she find a new family she can adopt?

Links To Resources: Washington Children’s Choice Award Activities (scroll about 1/2 way down the pdf); Fun Facts About Cats; How To Draw A Cat video; learn to draw a cat step-by-step guide.

(Sorry – I can’t make that picture turn the right way around so you’ll have to tilt your head! 🙂 )

Why I Like This Book: First and foremost, I love the art! Soft pastels that render that beautiful kitty so life-like! Her expressions are perfect, especially her fright at High Tops, her polite pleading with Miss Shiny Shoes, and her bliss on the last two pages. And the cat’s-eye-view perspective is wonderful. The story is a sweet one with both humorous and poignant moments. I love that all the people in the story are named for their footwear – which is what Slippers sees of them first 🙂 And most of all, I love that this lost cat story has a happy ending 🙂

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Maybe there’s a cat out there waiting to be adopted by YOU! 🙂

Golly! What a week!

A graduation! A twentieth birthday! And first copies of three new books! All within 5 days!

It’s no wonder I don’t know where the week went, yet here we are at Friday again!

Friday is a really excellent day. It means we’re about to get a weekend, and it means a list of Perfect Picture Books to enjoy over that weekend – an unbeatable combination! All we need to make it true perfection is a nice chocolatey snack to go along with our picture books and our weekend 🙂 (Those of us who are mothers might luck out 🙂 )

I had another book in mind for today. Something Mother’s Day-ish. Based on the jacket copy I thought I’d love it. But when I read it my reaction could only be described as meh (not what you want for a Perfect Picture Book!) and then I read this one and loved it start to finish, so there was really no contest, even though technically this one is NOT Mother’s Day-ish. Preconceived idea out, awesome surprise book in 🙂 I hope you like it too 🙂