Jane K. Manning

Felicity was a witch with one desire: to try life as a cat! The idea of having whiskers, and being able to see in the dark, held great appeal for her, and when she finally(!) turned 263 - the age at which witches are allowed to transform themselves into felines - she lost no time, chanting: "Give me whiskers and moonlight sight, / as I become a cat tonight. / My witchy self will now be gone, / but I'll return by break of dawn!" Reveling in her nighttime explorations, Felicity began to lose show more sight of an important rule: that a witch could only turn herself into a cat nine times, before becoming stuck in feline form...

Apparently based upon an old Irish legend concerning witches and cats, Jane Manning's Cat Nights is an engagingly witchy tale that emphasizes the importance of being yourself - whoever you are meant to be. Manning's accompanying watercolor illustrations are an absolute delight, full of humor, and lots of quirky detail. I do wish that, in her brief afterword, the author had given her source for this Irish folk legend, but that is really my only criticism. Overall, an excellent title, one I would recommend to anyone looking for witchy picture-books in general, or Halloween-appropriate selections in particular. show less

I think this could have been a lot better. While the artwork and main character are cute, I think the plot gets super muddled and doesn't really present a great messages, especially for young girls. It feels like there is almost this choice that has to be made of being "sweet and invisible" or "fierce and unliked", which doesn't sit well with me. There are a couple little good moments but I wouldn't recommend this for young readers.

Apparently Millie has a temper (her fierce) and is working to keep it in check. To reward her success in this, her mother is letting her have a backyard sleep out. During the sleepout, Millie realizes sometimes you need your fierce. The illustrations are perfect, with a wonderful use of color. You can add Millie to a group of spunky female characters in the Pippi Longstocking tradition.

As you walk by this book your eyes are drawn to the bright colors, and the delightful drawing of Millie Fierce and she is going to Sleep Out! Jane Manning has once again drawn the children’s attention and they learned a good lesson, without even knowing it!
Millie who is known for her bad temper has been trying really really hard all summer to be good, and she is about to be rewarded for her good behavior. She is being allowed to have a tenting sleep over with her friends, and we get show more excited as we plan what we are going to do. My boys really thought this was a real neat idea, and would love to have their friends over to sleep in the tent with them. We will see!
Millie has a fun time planning, and then all of her friends arrive and they are off on for their adventure. Of course, as expected, and my boys said “Oh No”, things don’t go as Millie planned, and the boys again could see where things were going and were routing for her.
Jane Manning does such an excellent job of getting their attention, while teaching them lessons. Once we finished the story, it had to be reread and with them taking time on each page to enjoy the colorful drawings. I’m sure it will be requested again and again.

I received this book through TLC Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review. show less