Fashion Kitty

More fun for those who love Babymouse right down to the same color scheme of black, grey and pink. The mix and match pages are a cool idea for the format.

Fashion Kitty was written and illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper in 2005. This book is a children’s graphic novel. It is about cat named Kiki Kittie. The story is written in third person and first person by Kiki Kittie. She is a normal cat until her birthday. Kiki starts the story off explaining why her family is unusual. The text is written in a child-like writing, which helps keep the book a little more interesting. I believe it keeps it more interesting because it makes you think it is actually Kiki writing the story. On Kiki’s birthday she gets hit on the head by a shelf and become Fashion Kitty. Her job is to go and help other cats that are having a fashion faux pas. This book is written in a comic style and is very show more descriptive. The first thing I did not like about this book was the missing Table of Contents. The author did not break this book into chapters. I was hoping because it was listed as a children’s graphic novel that it would have been written with chapters. The jacket of the book is a wonderful setting for the plot of the story. It shows Kiki in her disguise as a giant above a city. There is even a little comical circle on the bottom that says, “I need fashion help!? The Jacket does offer different colors and a glittery background around the title. The pictures are in drawing form in pink, grey, and black colors. They are the only colors used within the story of the book, except for the cutouts. There are eight glossy pages that children can cut and create different outfits for Mary Jane Tabby. On Fashion Kitty’s first adventure she helps a girl named Mary Jane Tabby. Once she helps Mary get her wardrobe together, the author puts inserts the cutouts so the children can help create their own outfits. The second thing I did not like about this book was when Kiki went into Priscilla’s house and drew circles around the eyes of the cats in the fashion magazines. In the morning Pricilla drew circles around her eyes and went to school and got made fun of. I did not believe this was a very good example for my child. The third thing I did not like about this book was when Kiki lied to her parents. Her parents asked her where she went and she said, “I don’t remember where I went.” Kiki then writes in the book, “Kiki wasn’t sure why she felt she should keep her adventure as Fashion Kitty a secret.” So clearly she knew where she went. Overall I did like the story because it kept my attention and was written in a comical form. There are many books to this series. I believe this would be a good book to have in a third grade classroom library. I probably would not read it aloud because it is mostly for girls. show less

This is the graphic novel selection I read for Children's Lit. I picked it because I liked that there is such a thing as a girly graphic novel, not just a graphic novel featuring a girl protagonist. In actuality, it's pretty simplistic and doesn't offer much of value. There are a few good lessons about individuality and bullying, however, so it might be appropriate for a reluctant or slow reader.

Fashion Kitty is always there to help with any fashion dilemmas. When a freak accident turns a young kitty into the superhero "Fashion Kitty" she must accept that she has been put on the earth to help with the fashion evils of the world. But will she be up to the task?

Fun little comic that will appeal to girls.