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Library | Material Type | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
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Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Juvenile Picture Book Hardback | 120791001970263 | J P BUR | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
What if you were as small as your cat -- and took off with him on a nighttime adventure? A gorgeously illustrated tale from the award-winning John Burningham.
Every night Marie-Elaine's cat, Malcolm, goes out, and every morning he comes back in and sleeps. "Where do cats go at night?" the girl wonders. So when she sees him at his cat door dressed to the nines, she begs to come along. And amazingly, Malcolm agrees -- as long as she puts on her fancy clothes, gets small, and keeps it all a secret. With a whimsical story and breathtaking artwork, the acclaimed John Burningham takes us on an exciting night's journey, braving hoodlum dogs and precarious climbs for a rooftop party that is cause for celebration indeed.
Reviews (6)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Marie Elaine wonders what her cat, Malcolm, does at night that causes him to sleep all day. When she goes down to the kitchen late one night and finds him all dressed up to go out, she asks to come along. He agrees as long as she "gets small," and he takes her and her neighbor Norman to a secret cat party on the rooftops, where they dance, feast, and meet the queen of the cats. Burningham's signature sketchy mixed-media illustrations are a good fit for the dreamlike story, as is the off-kilter logic of the text ("Marie Elaine got small, and they went out of the house through the cat door"). The artist uses color to great effect; when the child is in her normal daytime world, the illustrations feature little background information, but the rooftop world of the cat's party is awash in color and fanciful detail. This simple fantasy captures the pleasant feel of a dream, but without providing a strong emotional connection to the characters, it is likely to be as easily forgotten upon waking.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Burningham (Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present) treats readers to a whimsical nighttime romp. Marie Elaine wonders where her cat goes when he slips outside at night-and one evening she finds out. When she discovers him wearing a stylish crimson jacket and a brimmed hat and plume, the cat admits he's going to a party, "but I can't say where because it's a secret." Promising to keep his secret, the child begs to go along and he agrees. Obediently, she dons party clothes and shrinks to his size when instructed to "get small." Neighbor Norman spies them sneaking out from his window ("Let me come... or I'll tell") and the three navigate their way past threatening dogs (one wearing a pink hooded sweatshirt) to reach the urban rooftop party. A mix of pastel-infused sketches and bold images in robust hues, the buoyant mixed-media art reveals the gala in full swing. Costumed cats dance and dine before a brilliant scarlet sky signals the breaking dawn and the revelers head home. The plainspoken, childlike narration makes this dreamlike tale all the more approachable. Ages 3-6. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Where do cats go at night?" wonders young Marie Elaine, so one night she tags along with her kitty. After eluding some dogs, they meet the Queen of the Cats and party all night. Unfortunately, that's all that happens, making for an anticlimactic tale. Nevertheless, it's a pleasant journey, and Burningham's unmistakable art--loose, exuberant, and inviting--carries the story. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Do cats sleep all day because they go somewhere at night? Young Marie Elaine wondersuntil the night she comes downstairs for a cold drink and spots her cat Malcolm dressed in party clothes. Reluctantly he allows her to tag alongif she dresses nicely and "gets small"to a rooftop soire that features balloons, dancing and even a banquet with the Queen of the Cats. A brief flight from some particularly raffish-looking dogs (cf. Nina Laden's The Night I Followed the Dog, 1994) adds further excitement to the outing. Using cut-paper figures and scribbly, thinly applied colors, Burningham illustrates the venture with sketchy scenes of back alleys, urban skylines and feline conviviality. Next morning Marie Elaine's mom finds her sacked out on the sofa, right next to the snoozing Malcolm. Bruce Ingman's Night on the Tiles (1999) offers a similar (if busier and more urbane) revelation, but the simpler plot and bigger pictures here will reveal the secret to larger and younger audiences. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* It all starts with Marie Elaine's simple question: Where do cats go at night? One evening she sees her cat, Malcolm, dressed up in a plumed hat and a red jacket. At first he won't allow her to follow hm, but when she is properly dressed in her fairy costume, they exit through the cat door into a wondrous night world. There is danger (dodgy dogs hanging about the alley), derring-do (climbing across roofs and up poles), and excitement ( She's coming . . . the Queen of the Cats ). And dancing. Lots of dancing. In the morning, Marie Elaine is as tired as Malcolm, but now she knows where cats go. In counterpoint to the simple, delightfully deadpan text is the wonderful whirl of Burningham's fabulous art, featuring mixed-media illustrations that are among his best work. Oversize clay-colored pages are a spacious backdrop for the doings; cutout pieces reside next to drawings done in pencil or pastels. But whatever the medium, the focus is on cats some dressed in costume, others au naturel all having fun. As will readers, who will love being allowed into this special, secret world as much as Marie Elaine.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2009 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
MYSTERY is made at night. A daytime meeting pushed past sunset becomes an assignation. A tourist wandering the streets past dusk is a stalker, and a vehicle idling outside one's window in the wee hours is up to no good, but come afternoon is probably U.P.S. It's no wonder that literature finds it easier to probe the darkness in man's soul when it's dark outside, as the rejected titles "The Arabian Midmornings" or "Tender Is 2:30 P.M." attest. Children's literature has followed suit, often most wondrously in picture books, which have to walk a trickier line at night. Whereas Peter Straub has the perfect right to keep us up after dark with his intrigues, nighttime picture books have the requirement of being soporific. This fall season brings a handful of picture books set sometime after cocktail hour, when they are most likely to be read, and offer a good night's sleep, some oddball dreams and the makings of a new classic. (If you just want to hear about the classic, you can do what I often do when reading to children - skip to the end.) Malcolm surprised on his way out, in "It's a Secret!" It is difficult to praise "A Book of Sleep," by Il Sung Na, without sounding as if I'm knocking it: "the literary equivalent of Tylenol PM" is an unlikely blurb for the paperback, but it is apt, so thoroughly does the book inhabit its sleepy world. "When the sky grows dark and the moon glows bright," it begins, "everyone goes to sleep," and an ellipsis leads us across the page to the exception - the wide-eyed, homemade-looking figure of "the watchful owl," backlighted by the full moon. Our silent hero stays up to guide us through a sleeping animal kingdom. The art moves easily from the actual (horses sleeping standing up) to the fantastical (giraffes resting their elevated heads on clouds) in a blurry variety of textures and styles - from stark, clean sketch lines to a cavalcade of splotchy color - that might sound overbusy but work very well on the page. An endnote explains this multifaceted approach as "combining handmade painterly textures with digitally generated layers, which were then compiled in Adobe Photoshop," which I take to mean that it's none of my business how Na does it. By my second read-through I found myself yawning, so this book deserves a cozy place on the shelf for reading to children at 7 p.m., or, in the case of other people's children, 4:30. Of course, it rarely takes a single book to put a child to sleep. The bedtime ritual can often feel like the plot of "Not Last Night but the Night Before," the new picture book by Colin McNaughton, in which the characters of familiar children's literature - the three little pigs, the three blind mice - all drop in on the nameless and bewildered narrator. The effortless rhymes ("I came downstairs to let them in; they knocked me down like a bowling pin") maintain a manic tone, as do Emma Chichester Clark's pencil and acrylic drawings, which come to a rolling stop at the line between being inspired by Maurice Sendak and ripping him off. By the final spread (spoiler alert: birthday party), the book is crowded with color and noise; despite the closing line "I went to bed and I fell asleep!" the book is a roaring good time rather than a quiet night in; fun for the whole family, except whoever has to clean up. And then there's John Burningham and his new book, "It's a Secret!" Expecting a classic from Burningham is like expecting one from Beethoven - he's already given us plenty - but with "It's a Secret!" he outdoes even "Mr. Gumpy's Outing," and I will pause for a moment while you go read that and then gasp at my scandalous assertion. Marie Elaine is told by her mother that the family cat, Malcolm, just goes "outside somewhere" at night, but then the girl runs into the cat on his way out, "all dressed up in fancy clothes and a hat." The text pauses as Malcolm stares out at us, caught by surprise, before he allows Marie Elaine to go with him, as long as she'll dress up too and "get small." From there, the book is everything you want in a journey - a familiar face, a grave danger, tricky maneuvers, elegant delectables, some trail marks so you know you can find your way home and, yes, a wonderful secret, which like all good secrets points to more secrets and the big, dark secret world in which we live. "It's a Secret!" is a perfect night, one that knows when to give a party and when to stay silent - the wordless spread of Malcolm leading his friends down a high-swinging cable leaves one breathless - and Burningham, in plot and in painting, knows when to color in the lines and when to leave them stark and empty. In the morning, Marie Elaine is lounging on the same sofa where Malcolm sleeps all day, and our heroine is exhausted - there's the sly soporific effect - but in possession of the delicious knowledge of the wonderful title. It is the real world of night, the one that may begin in the literature we read before turning in, but that really flourishes when the lights are off and the mystery unravels. Good night, young and old. Personal to Mr. Burningham: I'll meet you you-knowwhere. Daniel Handler is the author of three novels for adults and far too many books as Lemony Snicket.