2005 Caldecott Winner: Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten’s First Full Moon

Kevin Henkes

               Things aren’t always what they appear to be, especially with the imagination of a child. In this story, kitten sees her first full moon and mistakes it for a bowl of milk. She desperately wants this bowl of milk and tries many times, unsuccessfully, to reach the bowl of milk (moon). Finally, tired, wet, and hungry she returns home to find a bowl of milk, “just waiting for her.” The story creates suspense and is easy for toddlers to relate to, as the setting and characters are simple. There is always something that is just out of reach for children, just like kitten. Within the story the kitten does not give up trying to reach that “bowl of milk.” The illustrations beginning with the gray hues on the cover with kitten licking her paw in front of the moon are entrancing to both young and old, evoking emotions of wonder in the night. The endpapers are of particular interest to young readers with the many moons on a gray sky, which symbolizes all the things that seem just out of reach. The story begins with text on the left and illustration to the right, starting readers off feeling a conflict about to arise, and progresses with framed illustrations allowing us to evaluate what is happening to kitten. Throughout there is a repetition of, “Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting,” and it is placed on an all-white spread with just the kitten and moon shaded with gray. Children can predict and respond from the illustration the words that will be read, focusing on their feelings of “just waiting.” Towards the end of the story kitten is jumping out of the frame, showing us her final attempt to get the bowl of milk. The final page shows an unframed, peaceful and accomplished sleeping kitten, guiding us to a gentle ending of the suspenseful tale. With inviting illustrations and simple story, kids will want to read this again and again.       

BIBLIO: 2004, HarperCollinsPublishers, Ages 1 to 5, $11.59.

REVIEWER: Jennifer Debo

Format:Hard cover

ISBN:0060588284