Kitty Rhymes by Alice Byrne - Illustrated by Eric Pape

Mrs. Tabby Tip-Tail and Small Teddy 

In Purrville, on a winding street,
There stands a little cottage neat
With stately hollyhocks a nodding o'er.

Each day at half past o'clock,
In flowered poke and ruffled frock,
A pussy cat comes out and locks the door.

And with this pussy cat appears
A kitten, small, with pointed ears.
Then down the little pathway to the gate.

And 'long the winding street they go,
She walks with him to school, you know,
For otherwise he'd loiter and be late.

Sooty Sam and Toto Skitters

I see you, mouse, as plain as day.
That orange jacket gives you away.
Now go along home. What's that? You won't? 

Oh, very well, but if you don't
I'll grab this 'barrow on the ground
And chase you round and round and round.

The missus always says to me,
"Sam, pounce at every mouse you see."
So just watch out or you'll get hurt.

How come you dare to act so pert?
Now go along home. Go along, I say!
A cat's backyard is no place to play.

The Purrville Post Office

In Purrville, mail is given out
At ten o'clock, or thereabout,
And thither flock the pussies everyday.

There's Mrs. Fuzzy Wuzzy Fur,
And Mrs. Betty Buttons Purr,
The latter clad in calico so gay.

And Mr. Peter Whiffet who
Affects a walking stick 'tis true;
And Pansy Pink Pat always very sweet.

And others whom I can not name.
They get their letters just the same,
And idly saunter back into the street.

 

The Home of Toto Skitters

A mouse named Toto Skitters from his window one night spied
A dainty kitten coming up the pathway just outside.
Wee Toto hid behind a chair and crouched upon the floor,
And soon he heard small Patty Paw a tapping at the door.

She rapped and rapped and shook the latch, but Toto paid no heed;
She peered in at the windows, which was very rude indeed;
At last, receiving no response, she vanished in the night;
But tiny Toto trembled 'most an hour or two with fright.

The reason he was all alone within the pumpkin house
Was 'cause his mummy'd gone to call upon a neighbor mouse.

 

 

 

This collection of cat themed poems are written by Alice Byrne (1891-?) and illustrated by Eric Pape (1870-1938). The husband and wife team collaborated for the 1920 publication year of The Delineator, an American women's magazine; the same year they were married. Grammar changes were made to 'Sooty Sam and Toto Skitters' to exclude racial slang.

Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris by Megan Hess

In rhyming text and distinctively stylish illustrations, Megan Hess' debut children's book is a charming tale of compassion and ambition. Claris is a kindhearted country mouse who longs to move to Paris to fulfill her dreams in fashion. And with one great leap onto a golden hot air balloon, she is whisked off to a new life in Paris. A wish almost fulfilled..for her new home includes a mean little girl and a scary looking cat. Claris uses her wits to overcome these obstacles and finds an unlikely companion.

Always posing and ready for the runway, Claris is the depiction of grace and elegance, especially in her mouse couture-très chic indeed! International fashion illustrator Megan Hess applies her signature style and flair to a new series for younger readers. To create her artwork, she uses a custom Montblanc fountain pen for inking and colours painted digitally or with gouache. Claris is pretty in pink on the cover accented with textured paper, a gold bordered design and gilded edges. Recommended for ages 3+.

Amazon
Hardie Grant Egmont 2018
Hardcover 48p
9.4" x 11.4"

On the Other Side of the Garden by Jairo Buitrago - Illustrated by Rafael Yockteng

Sensitive and poignant, Jairo Buitrago's On the Other Side of the Garden touches on the subject of family separation. Isabel is a little girl whose father has taken her to live with her grandmother in the countryside. Confused and lonely, Isabel tries to cope with her situation. At night while trying to fall asleep, Isabel meets three animal friends:  an owl, a frog and a mouse. They show her the beauty in her new surroundings and allow her time to grieve. Were Isabel's animal friends real or was she sleep walking again? Readers can draw their own conclusions.

This picture book has minimal text that is slow paced, written in the first person by Isabel. The environment is mostly solemn with bits of comic relief from the mouse but gets uplifted in the end. An emotional and thoughtful approach to helping children through the stresses of family separation. Translated to English by Elisa Amado.

The digital illustrations by Rafael Yockteng uses a limited colour palette. The depiction of the farm is wonderfully illustrated. The nighttime scenes are not too dark and the positions of the animals are cleverly placed. This bit of humour in the illustrations help to lighten the mood. Recommended for ages 5+.

Amazon
Groundwood Books 2018
Hardcover 56p
9.8" x 9.8"

The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

Some time in the late 1990's I had come across a stop motion television program about a hedgerow community of mice. It was not particularly enjoyable so I didn't look into the books. Decades later, I came across Brambly Hedge once again but this time in book form. I was amazed; it was so different than I had remembered. It was so much better! If these books had been made for television using traditional animation or CGI, I probably would have found it more entertaining. The stop motion technique is really stiff and unfitting when the story revolves around quick moving rodents.

The Complete Brambly Hedge is written and illustrated by Jill Barklem (1951-2017). Barklem studied illustration at Saint Martin's School of Art in London, United Kingdom. It is during her commute to school there that she first conceived the world of Brambly Hedge. She spent five years researching prior to writing her first story and it is also her interest in natural history that makes her illustrations so accurate and detailed. Her illustration style resemble that of another British artist whose work I am fond of, Cicely Mary Barker. Barklem's paintings are however, superior, being a lot more detailed and with more variety of subject matter. Some of the best illustrations in this book are of the tree interiors. These are the homes and buildings of Brambly Hedge where the mice live and work. They have multiple rooms and tunnels; some are cozy and some are extravagant. There are a lot of pictures in this book, almost filling every page.

The Complete Brambly Hedge is a collection of eight stories: Spring Story, Summer Story, Autumn Story, Winter Story, The Secret Staircase, The High Hills, Sea Story, and Poppy's Babies. I prefer all the stories in one book as it saves space but these are published separately as well with slip cases for the newer sets. The book presented here is the 2011 edition. The text is large and the paper has a good weight. The stories are sweet and written with a child's view of the world set in the countryside. There is no danger of predators, the mice live idyllic lives. Each individual story reading length is about five minutes.

The Brambly Hedge series of books, first published in 1980, have sold over seven million copies worldwide and the characters have also been produced as collectible pieces. Recommended for ages 4+.

Amazon
HarperCollins 2011
Hardcover 248p
7.5" x 10.1"