Bits & Pieces - Hardcover

Schachner, Judy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803737882 ISBN 13: 9780803737884

Publisher: Dial Books, 2013

Synopsis

New York Times bestseller and fan favorite Judy Schachner presents a warmly affectionate portrait of a family’s devotion to their beloved cat.

Tink has everything he ever wanted – delicious treats, hugs and kisses, and even a kitten to raise. The only thing missing is wild outdoor adventure. So when the opportunity arises, Tink sneaks out – and becomes an outdoor cat for one unforgettable night.

Like cozy favorites such as Clare Turlay Newberry's Marshmallow and Mo Willems' City Dog, Country Frog, and with soft, meltingly tender illustrations that match the poignant tale, Judy Schachner proves what a superlative storyteller she is with this loving family story.

About this title

About the Author

Known for her bestselling Skippyjon Jones series, Judy Schachner also wrote and illustrated the much-loved Grannyman, which won the Nebraska Golden Sowers Award, and several other books.  She lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, with her family and cats. Tink, one of her cats, served as the inspiration for this story.

Reviews

K-Gr 1–Although Tink's brain is “the size of a frozen pea,” his family loves their not-so-bright cat to bits. After a goatlike meal of household odds and ends lands him at the vet, their beloved boy gets a taste of the adventure and mystery of the great outdoors. His family gets him a brother for company, but he still longs for life on the outside. He finally sneaks out on his 20th birthday, and a day full of frolicking turns into a night of wandering, and he wakes lost and confused in an old tire. Two quick-thinking neighborhood girls save him from being carted off to a shelter and he is enthusiastically welcomed home. Schachner's smudgy, cheerful illustrations buoy up this story that is occasionally bogged down by an apparent attempt to squeeze the real Tink's long life into a few picture-book pages. Nonetheless, the author's fans and cat lovers will relate to the story of the feline's antics and the satisfying resolution.–Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, OHα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Tink is a beloved indoor pet with a brain “the size of a frozen pea.” No matter, his family loves him to bits and pieces. Schachner uses charcoal pencil, pan pencil, pastels, watercolor, and cut paper to glorify the antics of this beloved cat in full-bleed spreads and panels. When Tink’s peculiar eating habits include devouring a flip-flop, three Chinese lanterns, some dollhouse furniture, and a Slinky, it’s off to the kitty clinic for a tummy treatment. Even when his family finds him a new kitten named Little (and he is) to keep him company indoors, Tink still yearns for another outdoor experience. Finally, on his twentieth birthday, the old boy sneaks outside and has some intoxicating adventures in the big wide world. In a vibrant double-page spread, Tink strolls into the night, viewing the moon, the owls, and other nighttime creatures, and then realizes he is lost. All ends well with reassuring smiles between the two cats as they rest on the blue polka-dotted armchair. Fans of Schachner’s Skippyjon Jones series should lap this one up. Preschool-Grade 2. --Lolly Gepson

Edition details

• Publisher: Dial Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803737882
• ISBN 13: 9780803737884
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32