Four Little Kittens

Rating:
Summary: Cute & clever, but romanticizes the life of stray alley cats
Review: "Four Little Kittens", first published in 1957, is the story of Mother Cat who lives in a barn, and her litter of four kittens, Tuff, Ruff, Luff, and Muff. When the kittens are old enough to live separately from Mother Cat, she tells them it's time to decide what kind of cats they want to be. She describes the lives of three different types of cats: alley cats, farm cats and ship cats. As she describes the life of each type of cat, one of Muff's siblings decides that's the life for him, and runs off to become that type of cat. I'll leave Muff's destiny as a surprise.

The story is clever, and the illustrations are adorable. Unfortunately, I don't recommend this book because the life of the stray alley cat is romanticized and presented in a positive light: a long lean wild clever cat who gets to do whatever he likes, and makes fine music at night to the moon. Unfortunately, in real life, the life of a stray cat is not nearly as much fun as it is in "Four Little Kittens." Various spay and neuter organizations estimate that a pair of feral cats can generate about 3000 cats in their lifespan of 2-5 years, and that's after considering the deaths - approximately 1/3 of feral kittens die after 2 months. Housecats, however, typically live into their teens. Many feral cats are hungry and sick. I have a problem with romanticizing this tragic situation to young children.

The book's description says it's for readers aged 4 to 8. The book appears to be one a parent would read to preschoolers aged 3 to 5, while kindergartners and first graders might like to read it themselves. However, 2nd and 3rd graders would likely find the book too childish. If you are going to read this book to a young child, I suggest mentioning that alley cats are often sick and hungry, so alley cat life isn't as much fun as Tuff thinks, before going on to read about farm and ship cats.

Rating:
Summary: Cute & clever, but romanticizes the life of stray alley cats
Review: "Four Little Kittens", first published in 1957, is the story of Mother Cat who lives in a barn, and her litter of four kittens, Tuff, Ruff, Luff, and Muff. When the kittens are old enough to live separately from Mother Cat, she tells them it's time to decide what kind of cats they want to be. She describes the lives of three different types of cats: alley cats, farm cats and ship cats. As she describes the life of each type of cat, one of Muff's siblings decides that's the life for him, and runs off to become that type of cat. I'll leave Muff's destiny as a surprise.

The story is clever, and the illustrations are adorable. Unfortunately, I don't recommend this book because the life of the stray alley cat is romanticized and presented in a positive light: a long lean wild clever cat who gets to do whatever he likes, and makes fine music at night to the moon. Unfortunately, in real life, the life of a stray cat is not nearly as much fun as it is in "Four Little Kittens." Various spay and neuter organizations estimate that a pair of feral cats can generate about 3000 cats in their lifespan of 2-5 years, and that's after considering the deaths - approximately 1/3 of feral kittens die after 2 months. Housecats, however, typically live into their teens. Many feral cats are hungry and sick. I have a problem with romanticizing this tragic situation to young children.

The book's description says it's for readers aged 4 to 8. The book appears to be one a parent would read to preschoolers aged 3 to 5, while kindergartners and first graders might like to read it themselves. However, 2nd and 3rd graders would likely find the book too childish. If you are going to read this book to a young child, I suggest mentioning that alley cats are often sick and hungry, so alley cat life isn't as much fun as Tuff thinks, before going on to read about farm and ship cats.

Rating:
Summary: A cute book about finding purpose
Review: Although you can be critical, it's hard not to enjoy this cute "tail" of finding purpose in life, answering the eternal question "What do I want to be when I grow up?" And if you're a cat lover like I am, it is just plain cute. I read it to my newborn tonight, and even though he obviously didn't get too much out of it (other than hearing my voice),I ended up finishing it just for my own benefit. A charming story.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Childhood Book
Review: This is my favorite childhood book. I remember reading it a lot when I was little. I read it to my daughter's 2nd grade class and they all enjoyed it. I even enjoyed reading it again!