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Mr. King #3
L'invention de Hugo Cabret
When Mr. King the cat discovers that one of the pretty flowers near his home has been chewed by a caterpillar, he is NOT happy. He decides to build himself a Caterpillar-Catcher to track down the culprit who did it. ?VOOM! VOOM! VOOM!? But as he speeds up and down the hillsides, Mr. King doesn't notice that the Caterpillar-Catcher is spewing nasty smoke into the air and knocking down the other pretty flowers in his path. Now it's his animal friends who are NOT happy. They explain to Mr. King that his machine is making things worse, not better. And why chase a caterpillar anyway? Caterpillars turn into butterflies, and butterflies help the flowers to grow! Will Mr. King be able to turn things around so everyone will be happy again? This is the third book in Geneviève Côté's wonderful picture book series about a crown-wearing cat who always needs a little help from his friends to learn important environmental lessons. With bright and colorful illustrations, this engaging, charming book makes an entertaining read-aloud. This story shows that, as in the real world, there can be unintended consequences to well-meaning actions, and it provides a starting point for discussions on the interdependency of all things in nature. It might also prompt a conversation about how creativity can inspire us to make our community a nicer place --- maybe even sparking a classroom flower-seed-planting project. This is also a sweet lesson on how friends can help us to better understand ourselves and our world.
Paperback
First published April 5, 2016
192 people want to read
About the author
Geneviève Côté
78 books18 followersGeneviève Côté is an award-winning Canadian illustrator living in Montreal, mainly known for her work on children's books.
She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and received a bachelor's degree in graphic design from Concordia University in 1987. Côté has contributed illustrations to various publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Utne Reader and The Wall Street Journal; her work has been featured in magazines such as Communication Arts, Print and American Illustration. She has also worked for advertising agencies in Toronto, Montreal and Melbourne. From 1993 to 1995, Côté was president of the Association des illustrateurs et illustratrices du Québec.
—from Wikipedia
She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and received a bachelor's degree in graphic design from Concordia University in 1987. Côté has contributed illustrations to various publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Utne Reader and The Wall Street Journal; her work has been featured in magazines such as Communication Arts, Print and American Illustration. She has also worked for advertising agencies in Toronto, Montreal and Melbourne. From 1993 to 1995, Côté was president of the Association des illustrateurs et illustratrices du Québec.
—from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 10, 2016
Mr. King likes pretty things, like flowers. That's why when he sees a leaf bitten by a caterpillar he builds a machine to chase it. But during this hunt he destroys a lot of beautiful things. The caterpillar is a beautiful thing too, right?
When he realizes how wrong he is, he rebuilds the machine to help beautiful things grow and spread.
A cute story with really cute illustrations.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk
When he realizes how wrong he is, he rebuilds the machine to help beautiful things grow and spread.
A cute story with really cute illustrations.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk
June 13, 2019
The flower-loving cat Mr. King is dismayed and angry when he discovers that a caterpillar has been munching on a bloom near his home, and promptly uses his mechanical acumen to create a caterpillar-catching machine. What our feline hero doesn't realize is that his machine is more disruptive and destructive that the creature it was meant to catch. When all of Mr. King's friends manage to catch up with him, and protest his actions, he must decide how to set right the damage he has already done, in his caterpillar quest...
The third picture-book about feline hero Mr. King from Canadian author/artist Geneviève Côté, following upon Mr. King's Things and Mr. King's Castle , Mr. King's Machine is a clear teaching tale, one with obvious ecological and social themes. The importance of considering the environment, when taking action, is one lesson being imparted, but so too is the idea that when we do wrong (in whatever arena) we must take responsibility and work to correct whatever damage we have done. Not having read the previous stories about Mr. King - I usually try to read series in order, but picked this one up and read it before becoming aware that there were previous titles - I cannot say whether the approach seen here is typical of the other books as well. However that may be, although there is a clear didactic purpose to this fable, the story itself is engaging enough, and the artwork charming enough, to keep the reader engaged and entertained. Recommended to anyone who has enjoyed the previous stories about Mr. King, and to anyone looking for children's picture-books with an ecological theme.
The third picture-book about feline hero Mr. King from Canadian author/artist Geneviève Côté, following upon Mr. King's Things and Mr. King's Castle , Mr. King's Machine is a clear teaching tale, one with obvious ecological and social themes. The importance of considering the environment, when taking action, is one lesson being imparted, but so too is the idea that when we do wrong (in whatever arena) we must take responsibility and work to correct whatever damage we have done. Not having read the previous stories about Mr. King - I usually try to read series in order, but picked this one up and read it before becoming aware that there were previous titles - I cannot say whether the approach seen here is typical of the other books as well. However that may be, although there is a clear didactic purpose to this fable, the story itself is engaging enough, and the artwork charming enough, to keep the reader engaged and entertained. Recommended to anyone who has enjoyed the previous stories about Mr. King, and to anyone looking for children's picture-books with an ecological theme.
September 10, 2020
5 stars on behalf of a young person too little for a GoodReads account. She absolutely loved this book and requested it for nights on end.
The illustrations clearly grabbed her imagination and I liked the environmental stewardship message.
The illustrations clearly grabbed her imagination and I liked the environmental stewardship message.
September 14, 2024
La petite histoire qui croise la grande histoire de l art.
Un plaisir simple à la lecture. Des illustrations en noir et blanc qui participent à l'écrit. Roman vraiment intéressant de tous points de vue pour des élèves de cycle 3.
Un plaisir simple à la lecture. Des illustrations en noir et blanc qui participent à l'écrit. Roman vraiment intéressant de tous points de vue pour des élèves de cycle 3.
January 14, 2021
Mr. King the cat loves flowers. But when he discovers a caterpillar eating them, he builds a caterpillar-catcher. As he trundles off in the catcher, spewing black smoke everywhere, his friends chase after him to try to get him to stop. Mr. King eventually catches up to the caterpillar, and his friends all catch up to him. They explain that his machine has trampled flowers and polluted the air. They also point out that caterpillars become butterflies which help flowers. After some thought, Mr. King makes some changes to his machine so it's helpful to the environment, not harmful.
Good book for earth day.
Good book for earth day.
March 22, 2018
This book is about a cat who is driving a machine around, and is producing a ton of pollution into the air. His friends tell him what is happening, and he decides to clean the air by building a windmill and planting new seeds. I think this would help students understand the concept of pollution and the negative affects it has in a fun way. I think the art media used is watercolors.
October 5, 2024
Tämä oli ehkä vieläkin parempi kuin tämän aikaisempi osa, eli Herra Kunkun tavarat. Hyvin tuotiin esiin ympäristökysymys eli oli jotain sisältöäkin siinä mielessä. Väritys ja kuvat ihan okei. Mahdollinen satutuokiokirja, mutta pitänee vielä odotella muita varattuja kirjoja saapuvaksi, että voin tehdä lopullisen päätöksen.
September 26, 2017
A good example of overthinking a situation.
March 9, 2018
Strange and confusing.
April 21, 2018
Belle histoire sur les avantages et les désavantages de la technologie selon les intentions de son inventeur: créer pour chasser ou créer pour s'épanouir?
January 14, 2019
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
January 2, 2024
Mr. King is a cat who builds a machine to catch a caterpillar, but creates a mess. So he turns the machine into a blessing.
August 15, 2024
Monia kivoja äänitehosteita 5-vuotiaan luettavaksi. Kuvat myös mainiot.
March 31, 2016
Mr. King's Machine is a picturebook by Geneviève Côté which is currently scheduled for release on April 1 2016. When Mr. King the cat discovers that one of the pretty flowers near his home has been chewed by a caterpillar, he is not happy. He builds himself a Caterpillar-Catcher to track down the culprit who did it. Mr. King doesn't notice that the Caterpillar-Catcher is spewing nasty smoke into the air and knocking down the other pretty flowers in his path. Now it's his animal friends who are not happy. Will Mr. King be able to turn things around so everyone will be happy again?
Mr. King's Machine is a book with bight illustrations, and a multi layered lesson. Readers see that their actions can have unintended consequences, that we all need to take care of the environment, and that sometimes taking the time to talk about a problem and brain storm solutions is well worth the extra time and effort. Mr. King is a cat with a love of beautiful things an nature being orderly. When a lunching caterpillar nibbles on a flower Mr. King is a little overly upset. In an over reaction that most kids can relate to, because most of us overreact (at least internally) over things daily, he builds a machine intended to help him discover and get rid of the caterpillar in question. Unfortunately his machine causes more damage that it could have stopped. I like there there is discussion of why caterpillars and other creatures are important, and how nature is a very interdependent. I liked the book, but found it to be a little heavy handed and while valuable in certain classroom or home lessons not something that was going to be a new favorite.
Mr. King's Machine is a good book for starting or carrying on discussions on how interconnected nature is, or how actions can have unforeseen consequences. It could also be used as a starter for a nature project in class, like seed planting or watching caterpillars become butterflies. This is the third book (but the first I have read) in Geneviève Côté's picture book series about a crown-wearing cat who always needs a little help from his friends to learn important environmental lessons.
Mr. King's Machine is a book with bight illustrations, and a multi layered lesson. Readers see that their actions can have unintended consequences, that we all need to take care of the environment, and that sometimes taking the time to talk about a problem and brain storm solutions is well worth the extra time and effort. Mr. King is a cat with a love of beautiful things an nature being orderly. When a lunching caterpillar nibbles on a flower Mr. King is a little overly upset. In an over reaction that most kids can relate to, because most of us overreact (at least internally) over things daily, he builds a machine intended to help him discover and get rid of the caterpillar in question. Unfortunately his machine causes more damage that it could have stopped. I like there there is discussion of why caterpillars and other creatures are important, and how nature is a very interdependent. I liked the book, but found it to be a little heavy handed and while valuable in certain classroom or home lessons not something that was going to be a new favorite.
Mr. King's Machine is a good book for starting or carrying on discussions on how interconnected nature is, or how actions can have unforeseen consequences. It could also be used as a starter for a nature project in class, like seed planting or watching caterpillars become butterflies. This is the third book (but the first I have read) in Geneviève Côté's picture book series about a crown-wearing cat who always needs a little help from his friends to learn important environmental lessons.
March 26, 2016
Review copy provided by Netgalley
This is certainly a text designed to be read by younger readers. It's the story of Mr. King, a cat that wears a crown. Apparently, there are other stories about Mr. King, though this is the first story in this series that I've read. The plot revolves around Mr. King's misguided attempt to protect flowers from the ravages of a hungry caterpillar. He builds a colossal machine to hunt down the caterpillar and prevent any further destruction to the flowers of his kingdom. He acts with blinders on though, and only realizes when it's too late that trying to stop the caterpillar caused more destruction than what he was trying to prevent in the first place. He makes up for it in the best way he can after he realizes the error in his ways, retrofitting his machine to spread seeds instead, but the real lesson to be learned lies in the reckless behavior of Mr. King in the beginning of the story. He took action to solve the problem in such a cavalier manner that he didn't stop to consider the consequences of his own efforts. In the right age group, this is a good story about decision-making and thinking about the consequences of one's actions. It has a light environmental angle, but the lesson within the text has broader possible implications. I liked the book. Simple and clear, it makes its point without being heavy-handed about it. Good for readers all the way up to early primary grade age.
This is certainly a text designed to be read by younger readers. It's the story of Mr. King, a cat that wears a crown. Apparently, there are other stories about Mr. King, though this is the first story in this series that I've read. The plot revolves around Mr. King's misguided attempt to protect flowers from the ravages of a hungry caterpillar. He builds a colossal machine to hunt down the caterpillar and prevent any further destruction to the flowers of his kingdom. He acts with blinders on though, and only realizes when it's too late that trying to stop the caterpillar caused more destruction than what he was trying to prevent in the first place. He makes up for it in the best way he can after he realizes the error in his ways, retrofitting his machine to spread seeds instead, but the real lesson to be learned lies in the reckless behavior of Mr. King in the beginning of the story. He took action to solve the problem in such a cavalier manner that he didn't stop to consider the consequences of his own efforts. In the right age group, this is a good story about decision-making and thinking about the consequences of one's actions. It has a light environmental angle, but the lesson within the text has broader possible implications. I liked the book. Simple and clear, it makes its point without being heavy-handed about it. Good for readers all the way up to early primary grade age.
November 23, 2015
Mr. King loves flowers, especially when they're beautiful and fresh. He DOESN'T love seeing nasty caterpillars munching on the perfect flowers. So he builds a machine to help him catch the caterpillar. What Mr. King doesn't expect is that his machine does something other than help catch caterpillars - something bad.
This is a really oversimplified look into ecology and taking care of the environment. After Mr. King realizes he's polluting, he just makes a fan to blow the smoke away and plants seeds. Yes, he's doing something, but he's not really FIXING what he did. I might be being too nitpicky. The illustrations are very cute - colorful and well defined. I have an e-galley of this so the layout isn't finalized and I'm curious to see how the text integrates with the illustrations. This is cute, but I wouldn't use it for storytime.
This is a really oversimplified look into ecology and taking care of the environment. After Mr. King realizes he's polluting, he just makes a fan to blow the smoke away and plants seeds. Yes, he's doing something, but he's not really FIXING what he did. I might be being too nitpicky. The illustrations are very cute - colorful and well defined. I have an e-galley of this so the layout isn't finalized and I'm curious to see how the text integrates with the illustrations. This is cute, but I wouldn't use it for storytime.
February 18, 2016
This is a book illustrating that sometimes we might intend to do one thing, but end up doing something we did not intend to do.
Mr. King loves flowers and when he sees that a caterpillar has been eating the leaves on his flowers he is determined to catch it. He makes the caterpillar catching machine and off he goes. What he does not intend on doing is spewing smoke into the air and running over other flowers and plants. When his friends point out the damage he has done, he makes an effort to correct his mistake.
This is a simple story with a couple of messages, one is to think through your actions, another is to make sure you take care of the world, even the parts that are not your favourite. The illustrations are very simple but work with this story. The emotions are clearly shown throughout the story.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mr. King loves flowers and when he sees that a caterpillar has been eating the leaves on his flowers he is determined to catch it. He makes the caterpillar catching machine and off he goes. What he does not intend on doing is spewing smoke into the air and running over other flowers and plants. When his friends point out the damage he has done, he makes an effort to correct his mistake.
This is a simple story with a couple of messages, one is to think through your actions, another is to make sure you take care of the world, even the parts that are not your favourite. The illustrations are very simple but work with this story. The emotions are clearly shown throughout the story.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 29, 2016
“The divine presence of the Spirit in creation binds us as human beings together with all created life.” (World Council of Churches, 1991)
This little book from Geneviève Côte, the third in the Mr. King series of books, has a simple message: Care for creation.
When the cat, Mr. King, discovers some beautiful flowers have been chewed by a caterpillar, he decides to do something about it. His solution is to build a Caterpillar-Catcher machine to track down the flower-eater.
His machine creates a lot of “VOOM! VOOM! VOOM!” Also known as pollution. The other animals around Mr. King aren’t all that happy about it. The machine, they try to tell the cat, is making things worse. His friends are finally able to help Mr. King learn a valuable lesson about caring for the environment.
Read more at http://jasoncstanley.com/book-review-....
This little book from Geneviève Côte, the third in the Mr. King series of books, has a simple message: Care for creation.
When the cat, Mr. King, discovers some beautiful flowers have been chewed by a caterpillar, he decides to do something about it. His solution is to build a Caterpillar-Catcher machine to track down the flower-eater.
His machine creates a lot of “VOOM! VOOM! VOOM!” Also known as pollution. The other animals around Mr. King aren’t all that happy about it. The machine, they try to tell the cat, is making things worse. His friends are finally able to help Mr. King learn a valuable lesson about caring for the environment.
Read more at http://jasoncstanley.com/book-review-....
July 17, 2016
I received this charming book as a Good Reads First Read book, and was very appreciative to received it. The text and illustrations were both of that caught and held the attention of my grown special needs son. As Mr King learns about caterpillars and butterflies the story helps teach readers-listeners about how special these little crawling things are. This book is a very cute one to add to our home library.
Also you could use this book in counting (how many friends of Mr King is on this page), what are they doing? Running up or down the hill? And about emotions the illustrations are so perfect that a little one (or special needs child) could easily 'read' the characters expressions. Are they happy or sad? Are they tired? etc.
Also you could use this book in counting (how many friends of Mr King is on this page), what are they doing? Running up or down the hill? And about emotions the illustrations are so perfect that a little one (or special needs child) could easily 'read' the characters expressions. Are they happy or sad? Are they tired? etc.
August 1, 2016
Story line shows how solving one problem can create other problems depending on one's point of view.
Straightforward text incorporated some fun vocabulary "Caterpillar-Catcher", "zigzag," and "tinker" for young readers to grow their language.
Cartoonish, colorful illustrations show close-up facial expressions as well as broad scenes.
Straightforward text incorporated some fun vocabulary "Caterpillar-Catcher", "zigzag," and "tinker" for young readers to grow their language.
Cartoonish, colorful illustrations show close-up facial expressions as well as broad scenes.
February 8, 2016
This is a fun book but for me it needed to have a bit more. It was easy to follow but not gripping and concentration can easily be lost. I did like the moral behind the story though and he images whilst a bit basic in places were fun.
May 25, 2016
This story about the environment is an interesting tale not often found in the picture book world.
Why does Mr King wear a crown, he looks like he's cat or a tiger, not a lion? If he is truly a king, what is he a king of?
The illustrations are bright and colorful.
Why does Mr King wear a crown, he looks like he's cat or a tiger, not a lion? If he is truly a king, what is he a king of?
The illustrations are bright and colorful.
May 26, 2016
I can not help but love this book series. Mr King is a cat, who tries to fix something he thinks is a problem, but makes a bigger one instead. This time he is after a caterpillar who is chewing the flowers. But his big machine makes the air to hard to breathe. So what should he do now? Hummmm.
March 29, 2016
2.5/5
Recensione su: http://wp.me/p3X6aw-TT
Review at: http://wp.me/p3X6aw-TV
Recensione su: http://wp.me/p3X6aw-TT
Review at: http://wp.me/p3X6aw-TV
March 1, 2016
This is a cute story to make small ones more aware of pollution and damage to natural things, although sometimes unintentional. Reviewed through NetGalley for an honest review.
March 3, 2016
Perhaps this would have been better as a wordless picture book. I could have understood the storyline just as well, and the words only detracted from the illustrations.
April 25, 2016
An absolutely incoherent adventure. Don't just give this book a pass, give it a wide berth.
April 30, 2016
megan spring reading 2016, children's book, picture book, nature, pollution, machines, prek, kindergarten, first grade
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2016
The message is a little heavy-handed and preachy and the writing doesn't feel natural. it does however, have a cat riding a tank.
July 17, 2016
A cute story. Could be a good way to open a discussion about letting our emotions run away with us and thinking before we act.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews