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Of all the members of my family, my cat, Vince, has the easiest schedule this summer.

I mean, just look at him over there on the right. He’s not working, going to summer camp or running errands. He doesn’t even pick up after himself.

While the rest of us rush around, Vince sleeps in a sunbeam or gazes out the window. The only time he shows any enthusiasm is when he thinks we ought to feed him.

It doesn’t seem fair, does it?

So, I decided to put Vince on his own version of a summer reading program. After all, he’d grudgingly reviewed cat-related books for my blog before. (You can read his takes on Where is Catkin, Frankie Works the Night Shift and Raj, the Bookstore Tiger).

So asking him to review one book this summer didn’t seem too taxing.

And goodness knows I could use the break.

In the past, I’ve succeeded in getting Vince to review books by casually leaving them around the house where I knew he’d see them.

This time, I was more direct.

I put I Am Tama, Lucky Cat (Peachtree, 2011), a Japanese folktale by Wendy Henrichs and Yoshiko Jaeggi, in front of Vince’s nose and told him to make himself useful and to make it snappy.

He ignored me and snuggled into his sunbeam.

I threatened to cut off his supply of cat treats and switch him back to dry food. But he was unimpressed.

Finally, Vince relented.

He left the following review on my computer and promptly went back to sleep. Same sunbeam, different angle.

Take it away, Vince.

This book is about a cat named Tama. He lives in Japan where he is doted on by a poor Buddhist monk.

Doted on.

The monk lets Tama come in out of the cold, shares what little food he has, admires Tama’s beautiful orange-and-black markings and is happy to have the cat simply sit by him. Tama’s mere presence is enough to make the monk happy.

He never expects Tama do extra things like book reviews.

But anyhow … Tama is grateful for the monk’s care. And he wants to help the temple, which is old and run-down. Like any self-respecting cat, he catches a mouse now and then. But one day, he does something much more important.

A samurai warlord seeks shelter under a temple tree during a storm. Tama raises his right paw and welcomes him. The samurai is impressed and comes forward to greet the cat. As he does, the branch of the tree he was standing under is str

3stars Eight-year-old Storee Wryter is a happy, self-assured little girl with a cat named Critique.   Her friend Kyria wants Storee and her parents to adopt a puppy.  They are not sure and think the cat would not like the intrusion.  Mr. Henry, Kyria’s father, arrives to explain what is involved in bringing a puppy into [...]

So I sheltered first in an Italian bar, where I bought a risotto with most of my spare change.
It was soothing because I appreciated the concentration and effort needed to stir it until it is cooked.
Then the rain let up a bit, and I ran towards the studio but had to shelter again, this time in a charity shop. I counted the rest of my change, and it bought me a ship in a bottle.

5stars Yasmine Surovec started a blog called Cat Versus Human as a “source of entertainment” and to relief stress caused by her other ventures in fashion and design.  This simple cartoon blog has morphed into a book filled with humorous bits about cats and the cat lady who loves them.   It is difficult to [...]

Add this book to your collection: A Cat Like That

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©2011 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

That Cat Can’t Stay  was selected as a Wanda Gág Read Aloud Honor Book for 2011.

For this year’s awards, 22 regional teachers and media specialists read and 80 elementary and early childhood majors at Minnesota State University Moorhead to 18,454 children.  The feedback from these readers, along with children’s reactions, are considered by committee members when selecting award books.

4 STARS This is a picture book written by Michelle Hall with illustrations by Dawn Phillips.  It is the story of Frisky and her journey back to her best friend Sassy.  Because of a lack of space, Nick’s mother no longer wants a bunch of cats in their apartment.  Nick puts the four cats, kittens really, [...]

5STARS An Arabian Nights Tale for the Twenty-First Century  Yeats Trafford, age 12, visits his grandmother, who lives in a creepy house, which has more than the usual creeks and moans.  The garden seems able to sense Yeats presence, especially near the old wishing well.  From that weird experience, Yeats uncovers an old pirate bookend [...]

Above: Neil Gaiman and his kitty, Oz.

Ok, so this blog has zero practical info, but how can you resist photos of writers and their feline friends? Check out Writers and Kitties.

Today’s post has been the hardest post to research since I began this blog. Why? Well, as part of Reading Round Europe I’ve been searching and searching for almost 6 months (yes, half a year – that’s how dedicated I am!) for some fantastic Danish picture books available in English translation to bring to you, to share with my girls and for us all to enjoy. But have I been able to find any?

Barely. I’ve found one or two Danish picture books that were nice enough, but not so brilliant, and I’ve seen references to one or two on the internet which I then haven’t been able to get hold of to read, let alone review. What’s going on with Danish children’s literature? Why are so few Danish picture books translated into English?

Nina Christensen, Associate professor at the Centre for Children’s Literature (Center for Børnelitteratur) wrote to me:

“I think one explanation could be different views on childhood and of the role of the adult in relation to children’s books.

You might find it a provocative statement, but when I enter a children’s book shop in England – or Sweden for that matter – I find that a majority of books are made in a way so that neither child nor parent/adult is challenged too much. Generally speaking picture books seem to confirm existing norms and conventions.

A lot of Danish picture books are also like that. But I think there is also a tendency in picture books from Denmark (and Norway), to expand the borders of how you can address also small children and which kind of stories you can tell them. Today, I am working on a presentation of some recently published Danish picture books: One of them is about children in a concentration camp (illustrations by Dorte Karrebæk), one of them about a girl in a third world country who lives in a dumping ground, and in a new humoristic and ironic version of H.C. Andersen’s “What the Old Man Does is Always Right” the main character, Osama, meets three prostitutes, a drug dealer and a homeless character.

Very simply put: In some Danish (and Norwegian) picture books (older) children are exposed to i.e. cruelty towards children, naked children, sex, less than ideal behavior presented in an ironic manner etc. In relation to these examples, the child reader is supposed to be “competent” – not an individual who should always be protected from strong or strange impressions. I think this could be one of reasons why so few of them are translated. I might be wrong.”

I’d love to be able to research this thesis. Certainly it seems to be a plausible hypothesis if you also look at an article in IBBY’s Bookbird journal, “A Challenge to Innocence – ‘Inappropriate’ Picturebooks for Young Readers” by Carol Scott (2005, Vol 43, no. 1 – available to read for free in pdf form here)

Photo: Mads Boedker

4 Comments on This post has taken me 6 months to write…, last added: 5/9/2011