by Elisa Kleven
Somewhere out in the big, bad world is a fickle tabby named Nellie, who kept me under her paw for 13 years before she got fed up and ran off last May. So when I picked up this book about a stray cat named Nellie, my lower lip started that whole quivering thing I really hate.
My Nellie probably got nabbed by a neighbor who moved, or gobbled by coyotes. This Nellie nestles in an old peach box and wishes for a happy home. A mean ol' crow decides to trick her into believing a brightly painted ball is a star to wish upon, if only she could catch it. Off she dashes, in search of that star and her wishes come true.
Nellie makes a friend -- a crocodile named Ernst, from other Kleven books -- and gets even with crow, just so y'know. Which kinda got me right here (pounds heart). Sniff.
Kleven's watercolor and collage illustrations have that childlike, done-by-a-10-year-old look, with a palette borrowed from Crayola and teeming landscapes that twist and recede into the distance, as Nellie scampers off into the big, busy world.
Or, you know, into the croc's supper dish. Oh wait, that's my version. Maybe it's a good thing I've never written kiddie stories.
Other books by this author:
The Whole Green World
Rating: *\*\
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Posted by: djecki | November 08, 2007 at 07:44 AM