Barbara's Reviews > This Little Kitty in the Garden

The five kitties in this picture book just may be even more adorable than they were when they were first introduced in the previous title, This Little Kitty. Not only do the illustrations effectively capture their distinctly different personalities, but the rhyming lines make the book a good choice as a read aloud. The black one is more adventurous than the others, tending to stick its paws where they don't belong or gnaw on anything within reach while the gray one is a bit more timid than the others. The artwork, created with cut paper, colored pencils, and charcoal, shows those cats helping out in the garden. Each scene contains something of interest, and young readers will be amused by the notion of these kitties venturing outdoors into the sunlight, spotting a rabbit, and getting in the way of their human companions who aren't shown other than a leg, arm, or lower body part. After all, it isn't the humans who are the stars but those cats. Of course, like all little ones, the kitties are nowhere to be found when it's time to straighten up the mess, and the tracks of all five covering an entire page indicate that they've spent quite a bit of time getting dirty. The cats don't seem to mind a little soil as the final double-page spread features all five lying on the newly sewn garden plot, each in a different position: curled tightly in a ball, belly up to catch the sun's rays, sprawled completely out on a stomach, paws reaching in two different directions. lying on a belly, sleeping sideways with one leg stretched out in what looks to be a terribly uncomfortable position. These five little kitties remind me of some of the cats who have inhabited my own home and taken over my life. Clearly, Spring weather brings out flowers and gardeners but also some curious cats.