Sippy Cup Book of the Week
This week’s book, Cat’s Pajamas by Thacher Hurd is another good one (in researching this post, I saw that Thacher Hurd is the son of Clement Hurd, who you may know is the author of Goodnight Moon). My daughter liked this book so much the librarian told my wife they couldn’t take it out of the library any more!
The book starts with the text:
Cool cats, hip cats, kitty cats
MEOW!
Bopping down dark streets
Looking for CHOW!
and keeps the sing-songy rhythm throughout. You can’t read this book without singing the words. In fact, it’s probably been at least three months since I read it, but I can still recite that opening line from memory. That is the mark of a good kid’s book.
When my daughter was too young to talk, we taughter her a few signs, such as the one for “more”. Whenever we would finish reading this book, she would always touch her two little fingers together, wanting us to read it again.
The illustrations in this book are really well done as well. Each page is filled with several different cats, dancing and playing jazz instruments in front of a city landscape, giving the book a dreamy look.
I suggest that you experiment while reading this one. I read the book in a rhythm that I felt fit the text, and my wife had a completely different rhythm. We both added drum beat sounds and various inflections that weren’t necessarily written on the page but still fit the book, making it fun for the reader and the listener.
In summary, this book was the perfect one for my daughter at the time. It combined cats, interesting colors, and catchy rhythms, which is a pretty unstoppable combination Because we read this book so many times and that I was able to recall the words so easily, I’m giving Cat’s Pajamas an unprecedented Five Sippy Cups!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, we’ll definitely have to check this out. My daughter would love the cat.
And we taught our kids signs too and even though they are almost 3, to this day they will use the “more” sign when they REALLY want more of something.
Great review. Even though my kids are too old for this book, on paper anyway, I would totally use it to inspire their own poetry. Love the image of the various rhythms. I can imagine your daughter’s joy. I’ll keep it on the list for books for other kids in my life.