Heiderose Fischer-Nagel

A Kitten Is Born is an informative text that teaches the reader about kittens and how they are born. I liked this story because it gives definitions of words and explains sentences well. For example, the author listed reasons for knowing why Tabitha wanted another litter. “This is a sign that she is in heat and ready to mate with the father.” I think that is especially important in this case because it shows the reader that the family does not pick to make the cat have kittens. I think that is an extremely important thing for people to learn. During the birthing process, the words and pictures became a little graphic so I would advise against reading this with young children unless they are very interested and there may even been a better way to show this cycle without the photos. One thing I really enjoyed was the photograph. It looked like this happened to a real family and they took pictures throughout the entire process. I thought that was a really neat idea because it was not just drawn illustrations. Photographs truly give the reader a true and authentic image of what is happening. The main message or idea in this text was how kittens are born. It describes the process as well as gives facts about kittens after they are born. Overall, this was a very informative and good text.… (more)

I absolutely adored this picture book. First off, this book is about newborn kittens. That is enough for me to be in love with it. On a more serious note, I really enjoyed the pictures used on each page. I thought they were academic enough to teach the reader what the birth process was like without being too in-depth. An example of this is when they show the kittens being born. The photos show a lot of the process, but they don’t show anything gross that may scare off the reader.
I also liked the subjective voice used by the author. Typically, informational books are very objective and detached, but this book was informative and personal. I particularly enjoyed the line where the author called Tabitha (the mother cat) the most beautiful cat in the world.
The main idea of this book is about the birth process of kittens.… (more)

A Kitten is Born is a non-fiction book that tells the story of a cat, Tabitha, who gives birth to a litter of kittens. I really liked reading this book. One of the reasons I enjoyed this book was the language. It is very descriptive and detailed, which allows the reader to really connect to the story. One descriptive line is, “We know that Tabitha is ready for another liter because she starts acting restless, rolling over on her back and meowing loudly to attract attention.” I like how this incorporates complex vocabulary like “restless.” Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the plot. The authors took the reader through the mating, pregnancy, birth, and development of Tabitha and her kittens. I think that the plot line allows the reader to get a detailed and accurate idea of the life cycle of cats. This book would be especially good for kids with cats in their family. The main idea of this book is to teach children about the life cycle of cats and to appreciate the relationship between kittens and their mothers.… (more)