Three Little Kittens is a beast folk tale written and illustrated by Paul Galdone about three kittens that lose their mittens. The kittens must find their mittens or else they will get no pie! The story is cute and seems to not tell any lesson other than “take care of your belongings.”
The rhyming text is perfect for younger children (e.g. Oh, Mother Dear, we sadly fear Our mittens we have lost! What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens! Then you shall have no pie. The three little kittens found their mittens and they began to cry…). The rhymes don’t have much of a rhythm but they are easy to remember. The rhymes don’t change too often. The text is limited to just one sentence per page with emphasis on illustrations.
The illustrations are detailed, always showing the three kittens and their mother, and sometimes the mittens. The coloring is very interesting because the cats actually look quite furry and scratchy. Paul Galdone also does a great job of giving the cats facial expressions. Despite the illustrations being a little detailed, the focus is still on the cats and not so much the background objects, so I don’t think this would be too much for a young child to take in when looking at the illustrations.
Beyond that, there are places for dialogical reading and also opportunities to do sound effects (meow, meow, meow!) and different voices (three kittens vs. mother). Because of the book being so simple in its message, illustrations, and text, this book is great for children 3 and up.