Thumpy Feet

by Betsy Lewin

Thumpy, thumpy, thumpy, thump! Here comes Thumpy Feet! He eats, cleans, plays, hunts, and naps. And he'll win his way into your heart! The onomatopoeic text follows a fun-loving, food-loving, self-satisfied cat as he enjoys the simple pleasures of his daily routine. Reminiscent of East Asian ink wash paintings, the illustrations not only reproduce Thumpy Feet's exquisite movement but also his very essence. Masterful compositions -- balanced, varied, and often surprising -- capture the reader's attention and arouse his or her joy, anticipation, and love at first sight!

Genres: Picture Books, Cats, Pets, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Betsy Lewin grew up in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She always loved to draw and can’t remember wanting to be anything but an artist. Her mother, a kindergarten teacher, is responsible for her love of children’s books. She read to Betsy and her brother every night: Winnie the Pooh, The Adventures of Babar, Uncle Remus, and all the fairy tale books. The illustrators A.B. Frost and Ernest Shepard were among her earliest heroes. Later on when she started illustrating for children, Betsy realized how strongly she’d been influenced by James Stevenson and Quentin Blake.

After graduating from Pratt Institute where she studied illustration, Betsy designed greeting cards. Then she began to write and illustrate stories for children’s magazines. When an editor at Dodd, Mead & Company asked her to expand one of those stories into a picture book, Betsy says, “I jumped at the chance. I’ve been doing picture books ever since and loving every moment.”

Betsy’s art is usually humorous, drawn in pen or brush with watercolor washes, as in Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type, but she also paints in a naturalistic style as in Pool. Gorilla Walk is her first collaboration with her husband Ted and is about their trek to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda. This was followed by five more collaborations; Elephant Quest, set in the Okavango Delta, Top To Bottom Down Under, about their adventures in Australia, Horse Song; A Story of the Naadam, set in Mongolia, Balarama; A Royal Elephant, set in India, and Patrol, about the puffins of Iceland.

Many of Betsy’s books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List and she has garnered many awards including a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators, and a Caldecott Honor for Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin.

When not at work on their books, Ted and Betsy love to travel to exotic places around the world gathering material for new books. At home each of them has a studio in their brownstone house in Brooklyn. Besides the usual clutter of pencils and pens, paint tubes and brushes, drawing paper and, of course, books, they surround themselves with mementos of their travels: peacock feathers from India, Herero dolls from Botswana, Galimoto toys from Namibia and Brazil, digeridoos from Australia, postcards and snapshots, and countless stones and seashells and bits of cloth that transport them back to the lands they visited. Their cat, Sophie, can usually be found napping on their drawing table.

Betsy was awarded a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators Original Art show for Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type, and an Honor for the first ever Ted Geisel Award given by the ALA for the book she illustrated, Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa.

In 2015, Ted and Betsy Lewin were inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Laura]

Goody good book.

[Megan Wagner]

Mostly he just reminds me of my cat, Sir Pounce-a-lot.

[Zeffie]

like it

[Tasha]

Cat owners will immediately see their own cats in Thumpy Feet. He spends his day playing, sleeping, cleaning himself, and hunting. The book takes a very simple but also very playful look at this active cat. Small children will see their own days of naps and play reflected in this book and will also be drawn in by the jaunty rhymes and bright illustrations.

Lewin keeps the book very simple with her language. Using phrases like “flippy flip” and “yawny yawn” makes this a story that is great fun to share aloud. The simplicity of the subject also lends this to be used very successfully with small children. Additionally, the illustrations are large, bright and simple.

This book is perfect for toddlers and librarians will be happy to add this jolly book to their cat storytimes. Appropriate for ages 1-3.

[Mother Goose Librarian]

Lewin's Thumpy Feet immediately had me thinking of my own cats! An amusing look at the activities of a cat's life! Large font, sparse text makes creative storytelling that will have readers and listeners joining in the telling of the tale and laughing out loud! Action packed illustrations pair purrr-fectly with this adorable tale! Whether you're a cat-lover or not, this story will appeal to kids of all ages! Lewin superbly captures the essence of a cat's actions through her bold, whimsical illustrations and action word text. LOVE this book! So much to pair with so many other wonderful cat stories and/or animal/action tales. Can't wait to share this with my students! It would also be fabulous to accompany cat poems.

It may also be fun to have children create their own pet stories, using Lewin's book as a mentor/model text!

[edh]

Thumpy Feet is perfect for the kitty-loving preschooler in your life. This cat has thumpy feet (thump thumpy thump!) and eats his food loudly, as kitties do (smacky smack smack) but also loves chasing his toy mouse (mousie mouse!). Simple spare illustrations by the artist behind Click Clack Moo keep the focus on Thumpy's beautiful orange fur and the onomatopoeia of his kitty day. Enjoy this in a quiet moment before bed, or on a rainy afternoon.

[Barbara]

I believe Lewin was channeling my friend Catherine. Such delightful word play. Great art for reading to a crowd. Can't wait for my cat story time!

[Melanie]

Illustrations are great--especially "looky look" page--it made me and my kids laugh.

[Rose Rosetree]

This is the most nonverbal picture book I've seen yet.

There isn't any story either, not really.

It's more like one thing and then another, in the life of a cute little cat. Drawings and onatopaoeia are the gist of this tale, charming in its way.

FIVE STARS FOR THE CONCEPT, WORDS, AND DRAWINGS BY BETSY LEWIN.

[Cleyton]

This book was alright. I'm not really a cat person but someone who might enjoy this read. The book doesn't have very much meat to it rather each page has a central word then it repeats that word several times. This may be fun for a very young child but I was a little underwhelmed.

[BiblioBeruthiel]

I didn't dislike this book, and onomatopoeia is great for storytime, but I feel like there's not quite enough here for me to want to use it for storytime.

[Heather McC]

Preschoolers will love channeling their inner cat with Lewin's interactive text.

[Kristen Dutkiewicz]

Illustrations were mediocre and not a fan of ALL onomatopoeia text.

[Celeste]

A fun read for toddler storytime. I had some kids repeating the onomatopoeias after me.

[Sully]

i love it

[Aarvik]

Nice read!

[Hilary]

Cat lovers will immediately be drawn to the goofy, engaging orange stripey cat who dominates the colorful double-page spreads throughout “Thumpy Feet.” Lewin’s wonderfully expressive illustrations capture the movement and energy of the cat’s activities as he eats, bathes, plays, and sleeps.

Some readers will find the text less wonderful, with cutesy words and sounds like “smacky smacky smack smacky smack” and “noddy nod noddy noddy noddy nod” or “snoozy snooze.” The text rapidly becomes repetitive. Read-aloud success will be highly dependent upon the reader’s expressiveness.

The bold watercolors more than compensate for the spare text. The action begins (and ends) on the endpapers, following Thumpy on the prowl and vividly conveying his energy and antics across every page. The pictures alone will encourage smiles and snickers even when a reader merely thumbs through the pages.

[Littlekitten]

This is the favorite picture-book in our house! The illustrations are bright, colorful, and full of the kind of fluid grace found in real cats; the text flows and bounces across the pages with Thumpy Feet as he bounds from page to page, and the words themselves are cute in a way that young children will find natural and humorous (our littlest laughed out loud at "looky look!" and loves to imitate the cat's "smacky mouth"). All of these elements combine to form a charming story about a cat just being a cat: eating, playing, and sleeping with every fiber of his being. An endearing story full of wonder and motion and happiness that's sure to delight anyone who finds joy in "the little things".

[Kate McGinty aka Caryn Caldwell]

Tells the story of a house cat's typical afternoon. Thumpy Feet charges into a room ready to play, but stops short when he sees his food dish. After his loud snack he washes himself, then goes running after the first toy that catches his eye. He wears himself out playing and yawns himself to sleep, then wakes up to begin all over again.

Little cat lovers will enjoy this short tale and should recognize their own felines in Thumpy Feet's actions. The illustrations so perfectly capture many of the cute and crazy aspects of house cats that the simple text could have been left out altogether.

[Barbara]

The watercolor illustrations and text mimic perfectly the movements and sounds made by an active cat. The word choice sounds just like a cat thumping into a room, smacking its mouth in delight at its food, grooming itself from head to toe, stalking and attacking a toe ferociously, and then falling asleep while playing. Upon awakening, the cat is off again, chasing after a ball of yarn. This one reminds me of the antics of my own feline friends.

[Teresa Bateman]

This is a very easy book about a cat called Thumpy Feet. The text. like the illustrations, is loose and deceptively simple. Thumpy Feet bobs from activity to activity and becomes purrily involved with everything...momentarily. Bold, colorful, simple text pounces across the pages just like Thumpy Feet, creating a very catlike sensation. Beginning readers, and cat lovers, will find much to enjoy here.

[Dolly]

We have our own Thumpy Feet; he actually looks very similar. So, despite the fact that there's very little narrative, I just knew our girls would love this book. They laughed hysterically at the cat's antics and identified which behaviors were similar to those of our kitties.

Overall, it's a short book that's filled with onomatopoeia and is sure to appeal to any cat lover. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Cara]

This book could be considered a beginning reader, as there is very little text. There are a few short sentences, but most of the words are onomatopoetic in nature, featured in various font colors, shapes and sizes to accompany the illustrations. There’s a rhyming, sing-songy quality to the text. Colorful cartoon watercolor illustrations perfectly depict a cat’s actions, expressions and behavior. New readers and cat lovers will adore this book.

[Great Books]

Follow a friendly orange can during his everyday activities where there is food, play, sleep, and even more play. Fun words flow throughout the smacking mouth and foodie food to pouncy pounce and flippy flip. Betsy Lewin's rhythmic language combined with the bright simple illustrations will charm all. Reviewer 17

[Stephanie Croaning]

I love the illustrations of Betsy Lewin -- she's captured cat moments in a fun, whimsical way. The text is almost non-existent, and too cutesy for my taste. For example, a cat spying his food dish says, "MMMMMMmmmmmm Foodie food!" I could do without the "baby talk." I'm not sure I can see even kindergarten-age children being captivated by the text. This is truly a pre-school read.

[Barbara]

Betsy Lewin has given us yet another wonderful character in Thumpy Feet. This cat is loveable, silly and typically "cat". I love how she described his cat actions and reactions using a "y" to make the text so endearing. Flippy, flip and Licky, lick. Kids and parents will laugh and re-read this little gem over and over again.

[Samantha]

A sound-filled, action-packed book for cat/pet/animal lovers. Readers observe Thumpy Feet's daily activities.

The author has so perfectly captured this cat's temperament and its business that many a reader will eat this book right up. Watercolor illustrations. A great read aloud for PreK-2.

[Kelsey]

Age: 0-2 years
Animal: House cat

With sparse, repetitive text, a white background, and large simplistic illustrations, this will be a perfect book for my 1-year-old storytime or toddler storytime.

[Cemeread]

Cat lovers will agree Thumpy Feet portrays cat life perfectly, from the frisky play to the slow nod off with toy in paws. The illustrations capture cat movement well. The text is simple so beginning readers will be able to read this on their own.

[Edward Sullivan]

Lewin does a superb job capturing the movements of a playful feline. A great book for younger children.