The Cat With Seven Names

May 27, 2013
Like the sailor with a love interest in every port, this feline hero has persuaded several households that he’s a stray in need of feeding—despite his truly impressive girth. Johnston (Laugh-Out-Loud Baby) gives each of the cat-lovers a distinctive (if slightly caricatured) voice and a particular loneliness or longing. Davenier’s (the Very Fairy Princess books) loosely sketched spreads, painted in gentle pastels, offer more cheerful notes, softening the characters and making their essential benevolence clear. There’s a librarian (“He is so big I have dubbed him Stuart Little”), an older man (“Name’s Kitty-boy. I hope he likes that”), a Mexican widower (“Placido... you keep dry, amigo”), a hardworking cop (“I called him Mooch”), a homeless veteran (“Ol’ kitty brings me... a speck of peace. That’s why I call him Dove”), and a single mother and her daughter (“Here, Mouse... have some leftover ham”). A minor accident brings the six together and reveals the cat’s secret in a quietly satisfying way. Johnston’s story combines the particular charm of cats, the flavor of city life, and the way unexpected events make communities out of strangers. Ages 5–8.

April 1, 2014
PreS-Gr 2-A plump, seemingly stray cat wanders occasionally into the home of an older librarian. She names her visitor Stuart Little. At an elderly neighbor's home, he receives the moniker Kitty-boy, while a lonely Mexican man names him Placido for his "singing" voice. A homeless vet calls him Dove, for the peace he brings. Only the cat is lacking his own voice in this heartwarming story of a busy neighborhood, full of unconnected adults. Each character has his or her own first-person narrator, each distinctly different. The Hispanic man peppers his speech with Spanish words, as he first meets "Placido" on a day when it rains "gatos" y "perros". Humorous wordplay abounds throughout, in which the cat is the common fixture in the lives of seven adults and a young girl. When the cat has a near accident, the full cast calls out seven different names, as each rushes to save the feline that has befriended them all; and through the cat, they befriend each other. "The Cat with Seven Names" will be sold with and without its corresponding picture book. Consider purchasing the set. Absent illustrations, the steady stream of elderly and adult voices may not be enough to hold a child's attention.-"Lisa Taylor, Ocean County Library, NJ"

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 4-In a quiet but busy neighborhood, six lonely people welcome a large, fat cat into their lives, each giving the feline a different name and enjoying his company for a while. There is a librarian who loves to read (she names the cat Stuart Little), an old man with a walker, a Latino man and his dog, a policewoman, a homeless ex-soldier, and a mother and her daughter who are new to the area. One day, when a car almost hits the cat, all of his friends run out of their apartments in alarm. The driver turns out to be his owner, who has been searching for him, and everyone begins to talk to her and to one another-discovering the beginnings of new friendships. The ink and colored-pencil illustrations help tell the tale beautifully, introducing the people and their living spaces and creating an indelible portrait of an endearing and very happy fat cat. The text is perfect, letting these neighbors tell their stories about the animal on two spreads each.This book is a true delight for individual sharing. There is a great deal going on in the neighborhood that is told only through the pictures as children look out windows and doors and closely examine the endpapers. At the very beginning, these neighbors are pictured going their separate ways but by the end they are talking and interacting, as the cat looks on smugly. This is a lovely book with a gentle lesson.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.