Kitten for a Day

by Ezra Jack Keats

Can a puppy be a kitten? This puppy thinks he is. As he plays with four kittens, he tumbles and stumbles, thumps and slurps, spills and falls. Then his mother arrives. Will the five new friends be able to play again? Award-winning author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats's appealing illustrations will have readers purring with contentment.

"A visually delightful book." ( The Horn Book )

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Cats, Dogs, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Ezra Jack Keats was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating The Snowy Day, which he also wrote. Many of Ezra’s stories are about a group of friends growing up in the city. The neighborhood they live in looks like the streets where Ezra grew up in Brooklyn, New York.

He was born Jacob Ezra Katz, the third child of Polish-Jewish immigrants Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy. The family was very poor. Jack, as he was known, was artistic from an early age, and joyfully made pictures out of whatever scraps of wood, cloth and paper that he could collect. Benjamin Katz, who worked as a waiter, tried to discourage his son, insisting that artists lived terrible, impoverished lives. Nevertheless, he sometimes brought home tubes of paint, claiming, "A starving artist swapped this for a bowl of soup."

With little encouragement at home, Keats sought validation for his skills at school and learned about art at the public library. He received a medal for drawing on graduating from Junior High School 149. Although unimpressive-looking, the medal meant a great deal to him, and he kept it his entire life. Keats attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where he won a national contest run by Scholastic for an oil painting depicting hobos warming themselves around a fire. At his graduation, in January 1935, he was to receive the senior class medal for excellence in art. Two days before the ceremony, Benjamin Katz died in the street of a heart attack. When Keats identified his father's body, he later wrote, "I found myself staring deep into his secret feelings. There in his wallet were worn and tattered newspaper clippings of the notices of the awards I had won. My silent admirer and supplier, he had been torn between his dread of my leading a life of hardship and his real pride in my work."

His father's death curtailed his dream of attending art school. For the remainder of the Great Depression until he was drafted for military service in World War II, Keats took art classes when he could and worked at a number of jobs, most notably as a mural painter under the New Deal program the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and as a comic book illustrator. At Fawcett Publications, he illustrated backgrounds for the Captain Marvel comic strip. He spent his military service (1943-45) designing camouflage patterns for the U.S. Army Air Force. In 1947, he petitioned to legally change his name to Ezra Jack Keats, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudice of the time.

Keats spent most of 1949 painting and studying in Paris, realizing a long-deferred dream of working as an artist. After returning to New York, he focused on earning a living as a commercial artist, undoubtedly influenced by his father's anxieties. His illustrations began to appear in Reader's Digest, The New York Times Book Review, Collier's and Playboy, and on the jackets of popular books. His work was displayed in Fifth Avenue store windows, and the Associated American Artists Gallery, in New York City, gave him exhibitions in 1950 and 1954.

In his unpublished autobiography, Keats wrote, "I didn't even ask to get into children's books." In fact, he was asked to do so by Elizabeth Riley of Crowell, which brought out his first children's title, Jubilant for Sure, written by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing, in 1954. To prepare for the assignment, Keats went to rural Kentucky, where the story takes place, to sketch. Many children's books followed, including the Danny Dunn adventure series, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, and an ethnographic series by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine, beginning with The Indians Knew. All told, Keats illustrated nearly 70 books written by other authors.

In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book The Trip (which would later become the stage production Captain Louie), designing

Reviews

[Denise Lauron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this let's pretend book. The story and illustrations would definitely appeal to a small child. It helps with the lesson about getting along with your buddies.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I'd seen all of Keats' wonderful books for children, but this was a new one for me. It's a cute tale about a mischievous pup who thinks he's a kitten, or at least pretends to be, while he plays with a willing litter of tiny kitties. Caution: it's pretty adorable. It's entirely possible that "Awws" will be uttered.

[Bant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitten for a Day is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, which tells a story about a puppy who pretends to be a kitten for a day.

The text is virtually non-existent – there are a few words and most of them are onomatopoeia – the story is entirely told in illustrations and the reader’s imagination. It is a tale of a puppy playing with four kittens as it was a kitten. The illustrations are wonderfully depicted and beautifully rendered.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Four kittens are met by a puppy, who thinks it's a kitten, so they decided to play with each other – kitten style. However, this new "kitten" is doing kitten things rather oddly. It is a wonderful book filled with beautiful illustrations that is rather too cute for words. In the end, the puppy has to leave with its mother and tells the kittens that the next time they should pretend to be puppies and leaves with its mother.

All in all, Kitten for the Day is a wonderful children's book about a puppy and four kittens who meet, become friends, and play like kittens for the day.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very sweet little story about a puppy who joins some kittens to play one day. He kinda sorta thinks he might be a kitten but isn't quite sure about things like that yet, and he tries with mixed success to join them in their kittenish activities. I use the word "story" loosely, because the books has almost no words, other than some sound effects. A book like this encourages a small child to "read" or tell the story and offer commentary on it. I have read a number of Keats's books, and I was surprised to learn that he illustrated it, because the artistic style is very different from what I'm accustomed to in Snowy Day or Whistle for Willie. It has a comforting affect with soft lines and warm colors which would lend it to a little lap-sitter, but it might entertain a Story Time group as well. I wish I had known about this book when my children were small, because I think they would have gotten a real kick out of it. Very cute kittens, and very silly puppy.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why so underrated? Because it doesn't meet the expectations of fans of Peter's neighborhood? Yes, this is Keats too... give it a chance. Such a funny and heartwarming exploration of the idea of imaginative play. And look at the details: the mouse, the walking on the chair backs, the kittens consoling the puppy when it gets hurt.

So much for you and your child to talk about. For example, would you like to be a kitten? What would be easy for you to do? Would you like to be a puppy? What would be difficult for you to do? Do you think your cousin would be a good kitten, or a naughty puppy, or something else? Can people who are different play together, like kittens and puppies can?

Pair with Pssst! Doggie--. to see a cat and a dog do imaginative play together.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A puppy joins in with a litter of kittens to spend the day. The puppy makes an awkward kitten, but the kittens never say anything. At the end, the puppy's mother comes for the puppy.

There are few words and many of them are sounds (lapping/slurping milk, etc.).

There are no humans in this story.

A nice counterpoint to The Ugly Duckling.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally ADORABLE is this almost wordless title originally copyrighted in 1974 written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. Reading this title as an ebook was a joy as I could focus on the illustrations closely. The playful and joyful illustrations carry the story of four kittens and yes a puppy playing together.
What a joy filled way to begin my day.

[Jenese Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute because a dog thinks he is a kitten and plays along with four other kittens. The illustrations are great and colorful. I really enjoyed reading this book and would like to read others.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple with few words per page. Cute.

3/22/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read with my 4yo and 6yo

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much to this one.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friendly puppy gets to spend the day with four playful kittens, and experience first hand what's it like to be a kitten for a day. Good times were had, and friendships and memories were made.

[Olive]

Olive is very charmed by this simple, sweet book. It makes her guffaw. I don't totally get it.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner from Keats, with great illustrations and a nice little story, one of the champions of the picture book indeed!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable, and not a lot of text so easy for pre-readers to follow on their own.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent word to page ratio

[English 212 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about being able to be whatever you want to be and not being judged for it. All the kittens did not notice a difference in the puppy, and they let him play along just as they would have with other kittens. I think this book much like children shows how much society puts on labeling things. Children, just like the animals do not know the difference and they do not care that there is one, they all get along and have fun. I think this also shows how anyone, no matter how different can be a part of any group. I thought the message in this was very important. At the end i loved how when the puppies mother came to get him, he says lets all be puppies next time because anyone can be anything they want to be and do anything they want to do. Messages like these allow children to be more free in their choices rather than just sticking to the people and things they know and are comfortable with. I think the use of animals and very few words makes this an ideal fit for its intended age group. I think the theme of the book is what made it worthy and would probably use this as a more one on one reader rather than in a group. Books with fewer words make them hard books to read aloud because children are not hearing voices and expressions, one imagining what is happening based on the pictures. I really like the simplicity of a kittens and puppies and having them all act as one and take care of each other no matter their differences.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute!

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The heart of this short picture book is in the spirit of the puppy who isn't afraid to try living a new kind of life with his friends the kittens, and the willingness of the kittens to accept the intrepid puppy as one of their group just as if he looked like a cat. There is harmony among the naturally antagonistic creatures, showing something of the kind of peace that can be enjoyed by people if we put aside our reflexive judgment of others and simply play together nicely.

Author/illustrator Ezra Jack Keats has the right kind of idea with this book. Best of all, his stories tend not to be an end in and of themselves; rather, they act as a bridge to the minds of readers who let the ideas expressed within the pages take them beyond the borders of their regular thinking. Ezra Jack Keats is better at that than most picture book creators. I would give at least one and a half stars to Kitten for a Day.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has very few words & I had 2 little girls and their parents at the beginning of PJ Storytime & I was able to have them totally engrossed in the story and that drew about 6 more children over.

A little puppy joins some kittens and pretends to be a kitten with limited success. 8/7/12

Used in Baby/Toddler and it was quite well received, except a page had been torn out. I need to find the time to check out the books I order for programs before I use them.

Maybe not the best for a large group...

[Melle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations for this are breathtakingly adorable. A little floppy-eared creature befriends four kittens, one of whom is a little black-and-white kitten with curious green-gold eyes like Zelda. The kittens try to do kitten things with this new maybe-kitten, who doesn't do so well at the kitten things. 'cause he's an adorable little hound dog-looking puppy. An adorable book about confusion, trying, failing, and then finding out who you really are.

Zelda wanted in on the action and tried to put the whole book in her very small mouth.

[Yasmin Gomez Geng]

In this book, a puppy finds a few mischievous kittens and hands out with them. The puppy and kittens begin in a bowl that the puppy tilts while trying to join the kittens. The kittens ask the puppy if he is a kitten, to which he replies "Uh-huh, I think so." And so begins a day of kitten activities and a few minor bumps along the way.

The illustrations give a sense of coziness and comfort, and the shenanigans into which the kittens and puppy get into are hilarious.

Grade: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
Topics: Animals, Playing with Others, Getting Along

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story about a puppy being a kitten for the day. This picture book has amazing illustrations and shows students the perspective of a puppy's day when he's living the life of a kitten. It's always interesting to use books with unique perspectives. The story has little words, and mostly told through pictures.

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, cute illustrations! Simple text tells the story of a puppy who spends the day playing with four adorable kittens. There are great engagement opportunities - my story time audience loved counting the kittens, spotting the mouse that appears part way through the story and laughing at poor puppy as he is less than successful at acting like a kitten!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohfercute. A puppy thinks he's a kitten, and has a fun day playing with four little cats. This would be a great book for my wiggly little story time kids. There's not much text, so it would be great to share with my group. Most of them are between 1 and 3.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea that this little gem of a book existed until recently. Now I am so in love with the ridiculously adorable illustrations and the sweet, simple text.

Oh, and my six-year-old son loved it, too.

[Torrie Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book for Jumpstart. There are very few words in the book and the pictures really tell the story. I believe this book is a great way to teach students that it is okay to try new things and to take turns.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to many of Keats' earlier works that experiment with pencil, collage and watercolor, this book is not visually interesting and the text brief. As Lu loves kittens and dogs, she enjoyed looking at the pictures, but there is little else going for this bland work.

[Kaylee Bostick]

A puppy decides that he wants to be a kitten for the day and realizes that it is very hard to do. I would use this in a kindergarten classroom at the beginning of the year during writer's workshop. This would demonstrate to early writers the use of captioning illustrations when creating stories.