Kitten's Spring

Kitten #2

by Eugenie Fernandes

It's a bright spring day in the farmyard and Kitten is meeting all sorts of animals and their young, including frogs and tadpoles, owls and owlets and many more. In this first book in the Kitten series, rhyming couplets capture the animals' sounds and actions, making it a fantastic interactive read-aloud. Young readers will enjoy mimicking animal sounds, picking out seasonal details in the exquisite mixed-media art and searching for and finding Kitten on every page.

The Kitten series follows a lovable feline around the farmyard over the course of one day as she encounters different animals. Each title in the four-book series is set in a different season.

Genres: Picture Books, Cats, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime

24 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Eugenie Fernandes is a children’s author-illustrators. She has published more than ninety books. Her paintings for illustrations have been used by UNICEF to create cards and puzzles, and by One Hen to create educational websites. Some of paintings from are on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable! Here is the story of a cute and curious kitten and its wanderings on a spring day on small country farm where it encounters a variety of both domestic and wild moms and their babies, like a frog and tadpole, pig and piglet, and duck and duckling. The rhyming text is sparse but descriptive and engaging and combined with the vibrant, humorous, detailed and darling illustrations, had me smiling on this spring morning. The illustrations include clay figures (such as the kitten on the cover) which is most creative and many children will probably love seeing them especially since many children also make their own clay creations!

I did wonder where the mother cat was, since the rest of the story is all about moms and babies, and the kitten's is nowhere to be seen. In the end, the kitten does come into the farmhouse for a cozy nap so perhaps we are to assume it has "parents" in the humans. Otherwise, I thought it was charming!

[Phair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't handle the children's books as much as I used to but as I unpacked a shipment of new books this one caught my eye and I had to read it through. We follow a kitten exploring nature on a farm through absolutely wonderful collage-style pictures. The author/artist has created such rich detail and vivid action in her clay renderings of various farm and wild animals, birds, insects, pond life and plants. The colors are wonderful and realistic and while the text is minimal there is so much to look at and discuss that this is a book that could keep a parent and child occupied for a long while. My favorite scenes show a duckling hatching and a great cow and calf - you can almost hear the 'moo'!

[Khari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the art downright disturbing.

It's a cute poem about a kitten exploring the world and meeting a bunch of other baby animals, but the art is modeling clay squished down. The animals are weirdly realistic, but then squished so it becomes quite disturbing. The pig especially becomes less of a happy sow feeding her child and some distorted flattened skin leering at you from the page. If I keep looking at it I will develop nightmares.

Story: Narrative Poem
Art: Disturbing
Price: $14.95

[Kandice · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable kitten takes the reader on a stroll through the farm on a lovely spring day. The language is simple consisting of 2 word sentences (noun and verb). Eugenie Fernandes uses mixed media to create vibrant illustrations.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the artwork. It's very fun to look at and eye-catching for my toddler.

[Eileen Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great interactive book for children. It has bright colorful pictures to keep their attention. It has many objects on the pages for them to search for and to discuss. Children of all ages will enjoy reading the adventures of this cute little kitten in the spring.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for babies

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for cats, and also a sucker for mixed-media illustrations. The style of this book wasn't my favorite, though I do appreciate the unique 3-D art style.

[Stephanie]

Absolutely LOVE this book!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhymes show what animals and their babies are doing in the spring. Illustrations are made from clay and 3D elements and are impressive, but slightly creepy to me.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The girls did great with the vocab in this book.

[Jackie Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

adorable and lovely illustrations too

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun for storytime. I put out a puppet for each animal and by the end we had a huge pile of animals.

[Sara Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book, published in 2010, that follows kitten around the farm, where she encounters a variety of animals. Apparently, this is one of a four part series, each with the same plot, but set in different seasons. The illustrations done by Eugenie Fernandes, who is also the book's author, are really fun to explore. They are mixed-media with a collage feel about them and you won't notice some neat details if you flip through too quickly. The soft rhyming of the words make it a good book to read to babies and the bright illustrations, along with the fact that children get to explore animal sounds throughout, also make it appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers.

[Nielson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute and simple book that takes us on a journey with kitten through the outside world. We go along as she observes, both through sight and sound, the wonders of nature. The artwork in this book is what really makes it unique. It is a combination of self-hardening clay, acrylic paint, and mixed media-collage. Very interesting and unique.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitten returns to give readers a sense of what spring looks and sounds like on a farm. This is a beautifully illustrated book using clay, acrylic paint and mixed media collage. This is a great book to use with toddlers for storytime as long as the group is a reasonably sized bunch.

[Mommywest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, poetic text, accompanied by charming mixed-media illustrations that seem to pop out of the pages tell of the discoveries Kitten makes around the farm and countryside as he/she ventures out on a beautiful spring day.

[MissInformation · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super simple text, parent and baby animals. Rhymes. Ok for Story Time. Bright, flat colors with objects in relief.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet pics and nice, simple words - perfect for little, little ones.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live looking at the pictures in this book! It is nice to see some different medium used for the pictures and collages. Cute story, the illustrations are definitely the best part of this book. :-)

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of cute baby animals and their moms.

[Melissa]

All the seasons are included in this series that Anthony loves. It's a fun to read poem and teaches about the seasons.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Simple Easy reader, but I gave it 4 stars because I LOVE the art work! Very 3 dimensional with lots of texture! Great!

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple rhyme with gorgeous illustrations made of self-hardening clay, acrylic paint and mixed-media collage.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, cute book about a kitten experiencing all the sights and sounds of spring. This made me want to read the other Kitten books. A good one for toddlers.

[Janna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple poetic story with beautiful art.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute, chance to do animal sounds