From Bogey Bear
What child can't relate to a book about a mama and her children, in this
case, three kittens. The pictures in this book are bright,
colorful, and eye-catching - they are actually pulp paintings that
Denise Fleming makes to illustrate her books. The paper is the
picture! Each of the kittens looks different. Two of them
act alike, doing things cats do. One is different.
About the Book
Some kittens march to the beat of a different drummer. Mama Cat has
three kittens, Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris. Where Mama Cat leads, Fluffy
and Skinny follow. But what about Boris-- will he ever stop napping and
join the fun?
Young children will love Mama Cat and her three kittens. They'll also enjoy looking for three other creatures hidden in every scene. But they'll have to count carefully -- Mama Mouse has a surprise.
From Amazon.com
Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris tag along with Mama Cat all day long.
Actually, Boris just naps. He snoozes while the others wash their paws,
walk the stone wall, sharpen their claws, chase leaves, and engage in
other fundamentally feline pastimes. But when the others curl up to nap,
Boris stretches, yawns, and comes to life!
Denise Fleming, creator of In the Small, Small Pond and In the Tall, Tall Grass, succeeds again with this gorgeous picture book. The bold, exuberant, rich illustrations are artfully crafted with color-saturated handmade paper. Astute youngsters will love finding other creature trios in each picture, plus a hidden mouse! (Ages 3 and older
Karin Snelson
From Publishers Weekly
From Peter Rabbit to the Poky Little Puppy, there's one in every
family?one offspring who marches to the beat of a different drummer. In
Fleming's (In the Tall, Tall Grass) chipper picture book, the odd kitten
out is Boris, an orange tabby who prefers to nap while his mother and
siblings sharpen their claws and chase leaves.
But when Mama Cat and kittens Fluffy and Skinny curl up for a rest, Boris is ready to pounce (if only to find his next napping spot). Fleming's self-proclaimed love of cats (she lives with seven) permeates this somewhat slight but playful outing, as she accurately captures feline behavior and movement. The repetition of simple phrases and actions is also sure to be a hit with toddlers.
In her vibrant artwork, composed with boldly colored cotton fiber pulp and stencils, Fleming creates a sense of texture and depth unique to her medium. Mama Cat's luxurious black fur is speckled and contoured with blue and flashes of fuchsia, an unusual but effective color combination, which endows Mama with both dimension and significance.
On every page, the cats' eyes shine brightly in varying tones of fluorescent yellow and green. In addition to following the frolicking felines from scene to scene, young children will have great fun spotting trios of caterpillars, ladybugs, snails and bumblebees as well as a leery mouse who manages to stay out of the cats' path. Ages 2-5.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-As Mama cat leads her kittens through a garden adventure,
Fluffy and Skinny carefully follow her example (cleaning paws, chasing
leaves) while Boris naps. The surprise comes when Boris is ready to
frolic and the others are too exhausted to play.
Preschoolers will request repeat readings of this delightful story and enjoy searching for the smaller creatures found on each page. Fleming's kittens, created by pouring colored cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils, are large and bold and set against colorful backdrops. An excellent choice for reading aloud to groups.
Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Fleming's text is right on humorous target. This is a close-to-perfect
dance of text and illustrations.
About the Author
Denise Fleming has written and illustrated many children’s books,
including In the Tall, Tall Grass, Shout! Shout It Out!, and Sleepy, Oh
So Sleepy. She won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond.
Denise published her first painting in the third grade, when she started
taking classes at the Toledo Museum of Art and one of her paintings was
chosen to be the cover of a teacher’s magazine. She now works primarily
with paper, by pouring colored paper pulp through hand-cut stencils. She
lives in Toledo, Ohio.