It’s been a while since I fell in love at first sight, but that’s precisely what happened when I saw the front cover of Red Cat, Blue Cat by debut author/illustrator Jenni Desmond.
The cats’ gorgeously grumpy expressions, the boldness of the image as a whole, the delicate detailing of the birds in flight – it made me catch my breath, nod and smile.
And on turning the pages my sense of excitement and delight only grew. Red Cat, Blue Cat (published later this month in the UK) turns out not only to be beautiful but also witty, original, and jam-packed with joie de vivre; a gentle and humorous exploration of identity, envy and friendship.
Red Cat is fast and bouncy whilst Blue Cat is clever and creative. They share a house but the only other thing they have in common is a secret wish: to be more like the other. Try as they might, all they end up doing is fighting and getting in a big mess. Finally it dawns on them that not only is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery, but happiness also comes more easily if your comfortable with the skin you’re in. A friendship is born based on acceptance and appreciation of difference.
Desmond tells a great story, full of giggles (regular readers of my blog should be delighted to know there are more pants on heads!) as well as having a more thoughtful side. Her illustrations are clean, fresh and eyecatching. Definitely a talent I hope to see much more of in the future.
Inspired by the terraced housing on the title page of Red Cat, Blue Cat we set about creating our own street scene with cats.
We each had a bunch of plain white postcards onto which we drew house fronts. We use origami paper for the roof tiles and added telegraph poles and wires made from barbecue skewers and yarn, and chimney smoke made from toy stuffing fibre.
M added TV aerials made from paper clips and passport photo booth images of us looking out of windows.
I particularly like the bird nesting in the chimney of the house below, and the bicycle in front on the road.
Whilst making our street collage we listened to:
Other activities which would work well alongside Red Cat, Blue Cat include:
So what’s the last book you judged by its cover? Was it one you didn’t read because of the way it looked, or one you bought straight off because the front cover spoke to you?
gisele
How beautiful!!!!
Sam
I can see why you liked the book. We of course love anything with cats in it! And the activities you did afterwards are incredible. What a great idea – thanks for sharing.
Sam recently posted..Thank you… and a review (because we’ve not done one for a while!)
Elli
Oo, that looks beautiful! Really looking forward to seeing her work, especially as she’s so local to me.
Elli recently posted..Almost Human
Zoe
Thanks Gisele, Sam and Elli – do look out for the book I think it’s lots of fun. And I’ve an interview with Jenni coming soon on the blog too…
Zoe recently posted..Never judge a book by its cover?
Donna
Haven’t heard of this one, but I like! And…I always judge a book by its cover. And sometimes its spine.
Donna
Donna recently posted..Home Is Where the Dog Is
Zoe
Hi Donna, ah yes, I hadn’t consciously thought of the spine, but yes that’s true esp of novels which are shelved so you can only see their spine.
Zoe recently posted..Never judge a book by its cover?
A funny picture book from the US: Red Cat, Blue Cat « 5minutespeace's Blog
[…] was really pleased to receive this book for review after seeing it reviewed by the lovely Playing by the Book who loved […]
Red Cat, Blue Cat by Jenni Desmond | Child-Led Chaos
[…] art from Red Cat, Blue Cat. For an activity idea based on this book, Playing by the Book has a street scene collage with cats that looks great […]