Four Hungry Kittens

In a wordless story, four kittens share adventures and dangers around the farm while their mother is away hunting food, and they receive help from some unlikely residents. By the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator of Mirette on the High Wire.

While the cat's away, the kittens get mighty hungry, in this sweet, wordless picture book. Here McCully treats her subjects in realistic portraits, unlike her previous freely rendered Picnic and other wordless books about the anthropomorphized mouse family. A busy day on the farm begins when a mother cat jogs out of the barn to hunt for food just as the farmer and his dog head into the barn to do some chores. Mama cat's pursuit of a mouse leads her from barn to outdoor field and back into the barn's grain room. Alas, the farmer kicks the grain-room door shut, trapping the cat inside. Noticing the four playful kittens all alone--and headed for potential trouble--the dog steps in as caretaker. The smart pooch also figures out the cat's predicament and alerts the farmer, saving the day. McCully's tale says plenty, even without text; she offers the audience drama, adventure and a bit of humor. Her sun-dappled watercolors, most of them framed as squares or soft-edged circles, depict the rhythms of a barnyard morning and a tenderness and camaraderie between the animals. A memorable scene in which the dog offers its bone to the kittens (who don't know what to make of it) is simultaneously comic and poignant, epitomizing McCully's work here. Ages 2-6.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3-5. In this wordless picture book, four little kittens living on a farm wait for their mother to bring home food. The mottled watercolor spreads show the kitties scampering around the barn, as the mother stalks outside and later follows several mice into the feed room. Throughout, a large black-and-white dog watches over the family. When a kitten falls into a container of milk, the dog alerts the farmer; when the mother cat gets locked in the feed room, the dog stands by the door until it is opened. There's an engaging story line, but the ending may bother some children: the pictures show the cat bringing in a mouse and the kittens playing with it or perhaps getting ready to eat it. Fortunately, the pictures are impressionistic, so it's hard to tell just what's happening; some children, however, are bound to ask about the mouse's fate. Larger libraries wanting a complete collection of Caldecott Medal-winner McCully's work are perhaps the best purchasers for this one. Ilene Cooper
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