With his new "Cat the Cat" emergent reader series, the versatile Mo Willems tackles the easiest of the easies. The first four books range from a total of just 18 to 31 words, proving that you can indeed do more with less sometimes. More laughing, that is. Cat the Cat, the lead animal, a light brown cat with big, round eyes and wearing a purple shift, dances through each book on her two hind legs. An omniscient observer asks the title refrain: "Cat the Cat, who is that?" We see a gray mouse in a yellow shirt, bouncing a red ball. "It's Mouse the Mouse!" it says on the next page. In balloon dialogue, Cat the Cat greets him: "Hi, Mouse the Mouse." "Hello there!" Mouse the Mouse replies. Romping along the green strip that lines the bottom of each robin's-egg blue page, Cat the Cat sees a duck in a beanie with a twirly blade on top. That's Duck the Duck of course, clutching his Pigeon doll. (You can always find Pigeon lurking somewhere in each Willems book.) Then there's Fish the Fish, blowing bubbles, who salutes her with a "Hey, Dude." In each book of the series, you'll find a wacky ending, character, or situation that will crack readers up. In this case, it's an unidentifiable, yellow, monster-y creature with four arms and three legs. Who is that? "I have no idea," says Cat the Cat. "Blargie! Blargie!" says the creature, eager to become a new friend.
THEMES: ANIMALS. CATS. EASY READERS. FLIGHT.
With his new "Cat the Cat" emergent reader series, the versatile Mo Willems tackles the easiest of the easies. The first four books range from a total of just 18 to 31 words, proving that you can indeed do more with less sometimes. More laughing, that is. Cat the Cat, the lead animal, a light brown cat with big, round eyes and wearing a purple shift, dances through each book on her two hind legs. An omniscient observer asks the title refrain: "Cat the Cat, who is that?" We see a gray mouse in a yellow shirt, bouncing a red ball. "It's Mouse the Mouse!" it says on the next page. In balloon dialogue, Cat the Cat greets him: "Hi, Mouse the Mouse." "Hello there!" Mouse the Mouse replies. Romping along the green strip that lines the bottom of each robin's-egg blue page, Cat the Cat sees a duck in a beanie with a twirly blade on top. That's Duck the Duck of course, clutching his Pigeon doll. (You can always find Pigeon lurking somewhere in each Willems book.) Then there's Fish the Fish, blowing bubbles, who salutes her with a "Hey, Dude." In each book of the series, you'll find a wacky ending, character, or situation that will crack readers up. In this case, it's an unidentifiable, yellow, monster-y creature with four arms and three legs. Who is that? "I have no idea," says Cat the Cat. "Blargie! Blargie!" says the creature, eager to become a new friend.
Continue the name game. Children can draw pictures of other animals and ask, "Cat the Cat, who is that?" for each one. After reading these four Cat the Cat books, with their repeated refrains and reinforcement of oft-said words, watch your children's independent reading skills improve, as will their senses of humor. Graduate from these titles to the mayhem of the Elephant and Piggie books. For more very simple reads with abundant humor, look for little sets in the Brand New Readers series published by Candlewick Press, with titles by established authors including Kathy Caple, Johanna Hurwitz, Michelle Knudson, and Phyllis Root.
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:
Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly!
"Can you fly, Bee the Bee?" Cat the Cat asks blue and yellow striped Bee the Bee, in his green baseball cap, and sitting on a swing. "Watch me!" says Bee the Bee. Cat the Cat cheers him on-"Go, Bee the Bee!"- as he zooms and buzzes in circles across the page. Cat the Cat then watches Bird the Bird and Bat the Bat flap and flutter. "Who else can fly," asks the narrator, as the animals come upon Rhino the Rhino, bouncing on a big Pigeon playground ride, perched atop a big spring. "Watch me!' says Rhino the Rhino. How on earth can a rhinoceros fly? ZOOM! By airplane, of course.
Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep
It's late," says Cat the Cat, clutching her blanket and pillow, on the book's cover. She heads off to remind Sheep the Sheep, who is reading a book, what time it is and helps the others with their bedtime preparations. She brings a towel to Pig the Pig, scrubbing in the tub; toothpaste to Giraffe the Giraffe for his long-handled toothbrush; a glass of milk to Crab the Crab; and averts her eyes from Horse the Horse, sitting on the toilet. Approaching brown, wide-eyed Owl the Owl, she says, "Time to-Never mind . . ." Let your children explain the joke to you, with Owl the Owl watching from his perch as the other animals retire in a comfy-looking line of colorful sleeping bags. "Checkers, anyone?" he asks plaintively and wide awake on the last page, but, of course, the others are all asleep.
What's Your Sound, Hound the Hound?
What's Hound the Hound's sound? "Woof! Woof! Woof!" he says taking what looks like freshly-baked bone cookies from the oven. Chick the Chick, brewing tea in a teapot, says, "Peep!" while Cow the Cow, taking a carton of milk from the fridge, says, "Mmmmmoooooooooooooo!" It's when Cat the Cat says to Bunny the Bunny, holding a tray of teacups, "What's your sound . . . ?" that a problem arises. Bunny wiggles his ears and utters a silent sound, bunnies not being known for their noisiness. Have children deduct what all the animals are doing together, and they'll predict the upcoming tea party on the last page.
Hold your own animal tea party and play the What's the Sound Game with your child. Start by saying, "I'm a bee!" Your child will ask, "What's your sound, Bee the Bee?" and you respond with "Buzzzzz." Then switch roles, and have your little one think up a new animal.
THEMES: ANIMALS. CATS. EASY READERS. FLIGHT.
