2 out of 4 stars
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We toms are famous for our inquisitive spirit, and the protagonist of Puffy and The Formidable Foe is not an exception to the rule. He is out to explore the world. Although curiosity does not kill this cat (which is fortunate, for such a turn of events would have probably shocked readers in the age group at which this book is aimed) it does get him in serious trouble, namely in that perennial torture chamber of every self-respecting feline – the bathtub. To find out how the workaday business of “hunting for a rat,” which Puffy shares with so many of his own kind, leads him to so awesome a predicament, one will have to read the book.
Sometimes a distinction is drawn, in discussions of literature for children, between the book with pictures and the illustrated book. The former is the more conventional kind, where the text is simply accompanied by pictures which, in the crudest type of such a book, used to bear little or even no relation to the text. The latter is that kind of book where pictures are integrated with the text in more meaningful and significant ways. Indeed, in the more ambitious type of illustrated books (The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a classic example), the relation between the two elements may give rise to sophisticated effects – with, say, an illustration subverting the meaning of the text or vice versa. While it would probably be unfair to call the present book simply a book with pictures, for its pictures do illustrate the narrated action in a plain manner, I could not find any evidence of the sort of interaction which an adult reader might find interesting.
The drawings themselves seem basic. They actually give the impression not only of being meant for a child but of having been produced by one. I am not sure if this is good or bad, but it is certainly the book’s most striking feature. The story is written in verse which rhymes but does not always scan very well, particularly with this lineation. One might say that I am being overly pedantic, this being, after all, only a children’s book, but when one puts a line that doesn’t quite scan after one that does, the result can be somewhat unmelodious: “So after that day, Puffy made a great vow; / to stay clear when a “kitty-cat” didn’t meow.” (p. 18) The rhyming, too, is handled a little heavy-handedly in one instance: “He purred and played, / till on the scene, / came a small, whiskered / “Kitty” with odor obscene.” (p. 11) Finally, there is a tendency to use quotation marks without reason, as in the “ 'yucky' shampoo” (p. 17) with which the protagonist is bathed. Since Puffy obviously finds the shampoo yucky there is no reason to qualify this sentiment with quotes.
I am also a little skeptical regarding the book’s ideology. Now, before the reader loses all patience and demands just what the heck I am doing with this kiddies' book – discussing, first, pictorial function, then versification, and now ideology – let me quote the author herself: “Above all, please take this book seriously, and give of your time to discuss the importance of its message with those you love.” (p. 20) The message in question, as far as I could tell, is not to stray from home, and to avoid contact with those unlike oneself. Personally, I don’t find this a very good moral, even in a cautionary tale for children.
Despite its charmingly alliterative title, I wasn’t greatly impressed by this book. It seems to me neither particularly well written, nor particularly well drawn. But, since I am not a child reader, I will give it the benefit of the doubt and a rating of 2 out of 4 stars.
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Puffy and the Formidable Foe
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