Silvia BorandoReviews

A cute interactive book where the reader cares for a cat.

little boy paints walls and critters appear ...

shapes ... what is it??

There are no words in this beautiful book, just bright colours and hidden creatures that are revealed through a kid's paint!

A very cute book, I bought it for a friend's little girl and had to read it for myself first.

I loved that this book had the appropriate age range on it. But digging deeper I love the use of white space in this book. I haven't seen much of this technique in the books I've been reading but I think the purpose of it was to make each page in the book a canvas for the character to use as his own. I also like the theme of perseverance where he would paint something the art would come alive and in some way attack him, and in the end he figured that he could make man's best friend and have a play pal. It was very cute and I enjoyed reading this book with NO WORDS!!!½

Another delightful interactive book from minibombo.

What's that orange ball? It's a cat! Call him by name to wake him up and let's get the story started. As this cute little interactive book continues, kids will pet, feed, tickle, and even squish fleas off their cat.

I'm looking for fun new cat books for a cat-themed outreach I have planned and I think this one, with its minimalist illustrations and silly actions, will work great with both toddlers and preschoolers.

I would recommend adapting the instructions somewhat if used with a class, but with minibombo books I generally use them as a framework and put in my own dialogue. First, you'll need to discuss what we're going to call the cat. Once a name is decided on, the kids can call her name (I usually switch to female pronouns b/c it's ridiculous how many animals etc. in storytimes default to "he") , make stroking motions in the air, make tickling movements with their fingers, pinch fleas (make sure they don't pinch each other), blow away fleas, hold up hands like an umbrella, blow again to get him dry (the book says to use your shirt as a towel, but I don't need to see that many bare tummies lol), and so on.

With a small enough class the kids can take turns doing the actions with the book, but you'll want to count beforehand - just so you know, there are 8 actions an individual child could come up to do.

Verdict: This small book is not ideal for a large storytime, but for a small group it's sure to hit the sweet spot! Recommended.

ISBN: 9780763694722; This edition published April 2017 by Candlewick; Purchased for the library

This book shows a boy painting a white wall different colors, and each new color brings a new surprise. This book would be fun to show to young students during a read aloud due to the illustration of different surprises the boy finds with each new color along with the different emotions he feels. This book could be used to further a student's knowledge of colors and also exercises the imagination and creativity of the students as they relate to the boy in the story. I found the surprises on each new page to be entertaining, and I believe students would find this book enjoyable.

This was an interesting book due to the illustrations and being able to essentially open the page to let the animals out of their cages which may be entertaining to young students; however, at the end of the story, you let a snake out of a box which, in turn, eats all of the previous animals you let out of their cages. I am not sure how students would react to this, but this books illustration to say the least. I am not sure I would preview this in my classroom though. A wordless book that doesn't really tell a story.½

Lots of little things to notice in this clever book. Can you find the chameleon?

Another fun interactive book for read aloud or silent reading. The twist is the addition of a cat that the reader gets to name, pet, & protect throughout the book. Young listeners & readers will enjoy this book, and I'm sure they will provide the giggles along the way. Recommended for public libraries.

With each page a different animal disappears. Which one is it?

Black Cat is only ever out during the day and White Cat is always out in the evening. When each decides to learn what day/night is for the first time, they meet and become inseparable.

This is a fun picture book with gentle language and a quiet plot. It is a little bit of a twist on the typical opposites book for preschoolers (i.e., instead of just pointing out a bunch of pairs of antonyms, it goes more in depth about the differences between night and day). It is also a sweet story about meeting someone who is your complete opposite and being immediately friendly with them, learning from them as a result. The racial/cultural implications are obvious to an adult and can be expounded on when they share this book with young children.

The illustrations are fairly simplistic but fit well with the story being told.½

Borando, S. (2015). Black Cat, White Cat. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

Black, Cat, White Cat is a cute, simple picture book for young children. It is about a black cat who only goes outside during the day and a white cat that only goes outside during the night. One day, they both decide to explore the opposite and discover each other.

The story of this book is very simple and easy to understand. There is repetition and parallels as black cat and white cat are introduced and as they talk to their friends to find out more about the day/night. The alliteration of words and simple sentence structure make the story an excellent book to read aloud. There is a pattern to each page which the reader can pick up on and which cleverly sets up the twist at the end.

The illustrations of this book are also very simple but clever. According to the title page, the illustrations were done in black pencil and colored digitally. The reversal and black and white is fun and well-done, such as when each cat shows the other the day/night.

I found this book very charming and enjoyable. It would be a good book to introduce children to the concept of opposites, the difference between black and white and day and night.

A napping kitty cat is woken by the petting of the reader, who, instructed by the narrator, has a series of entertaining interactions with the feline, before he settles down to sleep again. Each two-page spread features the cat in a different position or condition, observed in black text, as well as instructions in green text for the next action that the reader/listener should take, from tickling the cat under the chin, to sheltering him from the rain with their hand.

Originally published in Italy as Il libro gatto, this delightfully interactive little picture-book reminded me quite a bit of Frenchman Hervé Tullet's Press Here, which also features a series of instructions to the reader, in which the desired actions seem to affect the progression of the story. I like that these books are so interactive, without requiring any sort of complicated (and highly destructible) paper engineering. The simple but colorful artwork here is also appealing. Recommended to anyone looking for the next book, after exhausting Hervé Tullet and the like.

With each color the boy adds to the page he creates a different animal, which when escapes, creates a different emotion, some being: fear, worry, and finally, when he gets a new friend (the puppy), happiness. Cute book.

This book starts off adorable for children who love animals and love touching pages but turns dark very quickly. You are letting animals out of their cages until you finally get to the snake, whom you also let out. Bad news is, the snake eats all of the other animals. I would really love to know what the author was trying to say by this book because I remain confused.

This book is about a black cat and a white cat. The white cat always sees the night, and the black cat is always awake during the day and they both want to see the opposite. So one day the black cat shows the white cat the day and vice versa. Then they become best of friends, or partners and have six kittens.. Keep reading to find out what color the kittens turn out to be!

Lovely, simple, charming. Loved the ending: I was actually surprised.

Library copy

This book is a fun experience! Teachers can use this book to teach about colors, animals, and imagination. Letting students create internal dialogue for the little boy allows a different writing experience nad view point. It is a book I would recomend for any classroom to have in the classroom library,

Perfect for one-on-one sharing, this color concept book is unique. The same group of colored animals appears on every page - but - every page is a different color. On the orange page, the orange hen is invisible except for her eyes; on the purple page, the purple elephant has disappeared, etc. -- Hence, the name, Now You See Me, Now You Don't.

Now You See Me, Now You Don't has humor as well! Aside from a glimpse on the initial white page, the chameleon is missing on every page - and he has crazy, googly eyes to boot. On the blue page, all the animals are underwater, blowing streams of bubbles. The end papers are "lights out" -- fade to black and we're left with fourteen pairs of eyes blinking in the dark. Very, very clever.

http://shelf-employed.blogspot.com½

background color changes, rendering some animals invisible, except for their eyes.

A black cat and a white cat take a chance, explore the unknown, and meet each other in this story of new friendship. The English translation edition reads aloud simply and wonderfully with its earnest, upbeat text. This delightful tale is ideal for individual or group story times, and can be used for themes about cats, opposites, day and night, or new experiences. Borando’s illustrations elevate this from a “cute” book to a visually striking one. As noted in the book, the illustrations are executed with black pencil and colored digitally, using only black and white to tell most of the story. Symmetry enhances the story of the two cats, and some of the strongest page spreads utilize the physical center of the binding to divide mirrored opposite images. The splash of color at the end of the book adds a light touch to the story, and the continued use of the color in the rear endpapers is silly in the best possible way. Black Cat, White Cat is very highly recommended for children ages two to five.

Black Cat only goes out during the day, and White Cat only goes out at night. When they realize they want to see what happens when they are not asleep, they decide to stay up and find out for themselves. That is when Black Cat and White Cat meet. They both show each other what day and night are like, and become inseparable.