Michael Hall is a master of ideas and creativity. His previous two picture books - Perfect Square (2011) and My Heart is Like a Zoo (2009) - have prompted such ingenious writing and artwork by students in our school. His latest book Cat Tale is filling young readers with word wonder. Three cats named Lillian, Tilly, and William J. move through the story with homophones and homonyms that make a delightful puzzle. From chews and choose to ewes and use, there are word pairs that craftily combine unlikely activities and objects. The cats steer a plane and then plane a board. They board a train and then train some ducks to duck a shoe (having previously needed to shoo fleas). The children's smiles of recognition and hands shooting in the air made obvious their engagement with every page until the cats fixed all the jumbled words. They all want to cut boxes and shapes to make art like Michael's.
what fun. i'm not certain this ordinary cat would be capable of such delicious word play. but uPun my word, who knows what goes on between those years.
ReplyDelete