Puss in Boots

by Eric Metaxas, Pierre Le-Tan (Illustrator), Tracey Ullman (Contributor)

An adaptation of the Perrault tale in which a clever cat secures the fortune of his rather dimwitted young owner

Hardcover

First published February 9, 2012

About the author

In a decidedly eclectic career, Eric Metaxas has written for VeggieTales, Chuck Colson, Rabbit Ears Productions and the New York Times, four things not ordinarily in the same sentence. He is a best-selling author whose biographies, children’s books, and works of popular apologetics have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Puss in Boots” is another classic story from Rabbit Ears Productions about how a clever feline tries to make his master a prince in order to save his own life. With Tracey Ullman’s hilarious narration, Jean Luc Ponty’s elegant music and Pierre Le-Tan’s beautiful illustrations, “Puss in Boots” will be an instant treat for children both young and old.

Tracey Ullman’s narration is hilarious and creative at the same time as she narrates this story with such energy. Tracey Ullman effectively uses both a proper tone and a French accent to narrate this story as she narrates the story in a proper tone and she uses a French accent when she is voicing the characters. One of my most favorite scenes in this video was when Puss in Boots was pretending to be dead and a rabbit approaches him and says:

“Oh! Looks like that there kitty is dead! I guess I’ll just help myself to some of that there lettuce he’s got in his bag. Uh-huh! Yep!”

Jean Luc Ponty’s music is extremely elegant and modern at the same time as he uses an electronic keyboard to capture the modern day feel to the story while at the same time, he brings an elegant sound to the score to emphasize the fairy tale element feel to the story. Pierre Le-Tan’s illustrations are beautiful as the images are extremely colorful and the characters in the story also look a bit hilarious since their heads are all the same oval shape, even Puss in Boots has the same shaped head as the human characters do.

Parents should know that the narration in this story might be a bit too hard to follow, especially when Tracey Ullman uses a French accent in voicing the characters and she tends to jumble her words a bit when she is speaking in a French accent. Also, there is some advanced vocabulary in this video that younger children might not understand very well and parents should try to go over the words with their child so that way they would not be very confuse with the words.

“Puss in Boots” is a hilarious and wonderful classic from Rabbit Ears that will have children rolling around laughing for a long time. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since there is some vocabulary that smaller children might have a hard time understanding and because the narration might be a bit too hard to understand since Tracey Ullman is barely understandable when she is speaking in a French accent.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Kiersten Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tale is about a miller who shares his land between his three sons. The two older sons try to steal the part of the youngest away from him and leave him only with a tomcat. The youngest finds himself out of options and decides he will eat the cat. The cat strikes a deal that if in a year's time the boy is not living in a castle married to a princess that he can eat the cat. The cat tricks the king and the boy married the princess. This book can teach children that they are capable of doing anything they set their mind to.

[Sierra Dirksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a young boy who is left with nothing but his cat. However, the cat was smart. He wore a pair a boots and brought the king presents. Then he convinced the King that his master (the boy) was a prince. He continued tricking the king into believing this and the princess and boy were married. This book would interest children because of the talking cat, however, it also teaches children to lie.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tricky cat is trying to save his own life. The owner wants to cook the cat and eat him, but Puss in Boots finds a way out. He promises Claude the marriage of a princess within a year. Puss in Boots succeeds at his task! The illustrations are pretty cool in the book. I also thought the red markings are very interesting within the paragraphs.

[Kristin Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, Claude feels that he has been short-changed by only getting a cat from his father's inheritance. However, the cat turns out to be clever and comes up with a plan to make Claude a noble prince. Children will enjoy this story about a smart cat that can talk. Children can learn that even though they may not have a lot, they can turn that little bit into something bigger.

[Megan Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was exceptionally well done. The story is about a young man who inherits a very clever cat when his father passes away. The cat figures out how to get the son access to new clothes, new land, a castle, and even the king's daughter's hand in marriage. This story would just be fun to read to students, and it would be perfect for a lesson on trickery.

[Nevaeh James]

In this book, a clever adventurous cat receives a fortune by outwitting humans. This character is most well-known from the Shrek movies. I would have my students compare and contrast the two versions of this character.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

fine version. there are better.

[Karim Elmenshawy · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a magical cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alyson Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a cat who wins a fortune and the hand of a princess. It is a funny tale for children to read and I think they will get a kick out of all the adventures he goes on.

[Ashley Lahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

There once lived a man who owned a mill, a donkey, a tom cat. Once he died he left the mill to one son, the cat to one, and the donkey to one. He thought they would run the mill together, but the two brothers plotted against the other brother who got a cat. The son with the cat decides that he will eat him. The cat has other plans, he beckons a bargain with the son and off they went. Puss in Boots is trying to win over the King with gifts from the son (made up prince) Puss in Boots continues to make up stories to make the son seem rich and powerful. In the end the son gets the princess and a castle and the three of them live there happily.

[Hannah Holthaus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not know that Puss in Books was an actual book - I thought he was just a character in Shrek. This story is about a family who lost their parents and the father left each son different parts of the estate. The one son was left just a cat and the cat was clever. He promised the son that he could get him a castle and a wife by the end of the year; he did just that. The cat tricked a bunch of people and ended up getting his owner everything that he promised. I was not personally a fan of this story but I think students would enjoy that personification in it.

[Brittany Cullen]

This book was really fun to read, the cat did everything for the boy so he wouldn't break his promise, also so the cat would live. It demonstrates that when there is something on the line that if you do everything you can you will succeed and will not only make you happy but others around you happy as well. The boy got to marry a princess and have his own castle because the cat helped him out.

[Alex]

This is a story of how a young brother be me a prince over night due to his inherited cat Doug some mighty fine work to get him exactly what he deserved.