Cats' Night Out (Paula Wiseman Books) - Hardcover

Stutson, Caroline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1416940057 ISBN 13: 9781416940050

Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2010

Synopsis

Cats are out for a night on the town in this lively picture book about counting, dance, and music from Carline Stutson and Caldecott medalist Jon Klassen.

From two cats waltzing to twenty cats in a conga line, dancing felines take to the streets, the fire escapes, and the rooftops in this charming concept picture book that is part counting and part introduction to music, dance, and rhythm. The short rhyming text makes it a perfect read-aloud treat, and with vivid illustrations from a breakout DreamWorks animator, readers and listeners alike will be thrilled to see what happens one night on Easy Street when a pair of cats start to groove to the beat.

About this title

About the Author

Caroline Stutson was born in New York City. She earned her BA in theater from the University of Denver and her degree in early childhood education from Metropolitan State College in Denver. A former kindergarten and reading teacher, Ms. Stutson now lives in Littleton, Colorado, where she works as a puppeteer and storyteller at the Highlands Ranch Library.

Jon Klassen is a Canadian-born author-illustrator. He has written and illustrated the acclaimed Hat series, including I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat, and We Found a Hat. Highlights of his illustrated books are Cats’ Night Out by Caroline Stutson, Sam & Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett, The Dark by Lemony Snicket, and The Wolf, The Duck & The Mouse also by Mac Barnett. His books have won a Caldecott medal and two Caldecott honors and other international awards. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and son.

From Booklist

It’s Saturday night on Easy Street, and this jazzy counting book reveals that the city’s hot spots are its rooftops, fire escapes, and alleyways, where pairs of cool kitties dance the night away. As music rises into the night air, 2 cats samba in white, while nearby 4 more felines boogie in saddle shoes and poodle skirts, and still 6 more tango in capes on fire escapes. Their numbers increase, until finally, when 20 hep cats conga on clotheslines, the neighbors revolt. Stutson’s syncopated rhymes sport fun flourishes of dance and fashion vocabulary (“Twelve town tabbies do the twist, / swinging their hips in dotted Swiss”) and a catchy refrain, but it’s Klassen’s atmospheric, retro illustrations that take the lead. The stellar digitally rendered illustrations in a muted gray and brown palette may resonate more with urban sophisticates than children learning their numbers, but the detailed cityscapes, hidden numbers, and appealing big-city cats will give little ones plenty to explore. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Kristen McKulski

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1416940057
• ISBN 13: 9781416940050
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Klassen Jon