The Little Runaway

by Margaret Hillert, Irv Anderson (Illustrator)

Recounts the adventures of a runaway kitten.

Genres: Childrens

28 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Margaret Hillert has written over 80 books for children who are just learning to read. Her books have been translated into many languages and have helped children throughout the world learn to read. She first started writing poetry as a child and has continued to write for children and adults throughout her life. As a first grade teacher, Margaret realized that the books available for students just learning to read were beyond their comprehension. She then began to write her easy readers and poetry for children. Her first collection of poetry Farther Than Far was published in 1969. Her many awards include the Chicago Children's Reading Round Table Annual Award for outstanding contributions to the field of children's literature. Other honors include the David W. Longe Prize and the Michigan Bookwoman of the Year Award. A teacher for 34 years, she is now retired and lives in Michigan where she continues to write stories and poetry.

Reviews

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margaret Hillerts storys are wonderful for readers who are having difficulty with reading by themselves. These books give readers repetetive and comprehensive sentences that they can read on their own. The little runaway talks about a small kitten who runs away from his mother and encounters many different animals along the way. At the end the kitten realizes that he does not want to be away from home and finds his mother. Children can use the repetive language and pictures to guide their reading.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow a runaway kitten doesn't seem as huge a calamity to her mother as the book would be if instead the little runaway was a human child. In this story, everything is fine, fine, fine.

The light touch of the author is evident in the section that describes WHY, exactly, the kitten runs away:

I want to go away.
Here I go.
One, two three.

Yep, that's simple.

Will that rambunctious little feline ever come home to her mother? No spoiler from me, but what do you think, Goodreaders?

PEDAGOGICALLY, WHAT A TRIUMPH!

The entire story is told in just 45 words. Suspense and all!

Linguistically, readers are learning a tricky dipthong: /OU/

Yes, all is well, and I must-must-must give this darling storybook FIVE STARS.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margaret Hillert rights very much in the style of those who wrote the Dick and Jane books. If you loved those books you'll love hers. They have simple words, repeated often.

** Talking Points: Have you ever wanted to run away? Tell me about it?

** Essential Oil Pairing Tip: I'd pair doTERRA's Thinker essential oil blend when reading this book. It's made especially for children and would be great for little ones just learning to sound out books.

[Samantha Holtsclaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, simple book about what could happen if you run away.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, very simple beginning reader with a word choice similar to the "Dick & Jane" books.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of boring, but definitely a good choice for my very reluctant reader, as there are lots of repeated words and phrases.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great supplementary reader to phonics based books like BOB books. My three year was in the habit of sounding EVERY single word out one sound at a time. When she read this (which has a LOT of sight words) she realized it's much faster just to know the words. It was the turning point in her reading.

[Peggy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack read this one for one of his first book reports. I gave him a whole pile of books to pick from and he chose this one, so even though it is an older book it must still appeal to young children. I thought it was a sweet story with beautiful drawings.