Mimi's Dada Catifesto

Brilliant. ?áOf course it's an homage to Duchamp, but there's also a lot of Archy & Mehitabel here, too. ?áEnough mention is made of Cubism, Futurism, and Expressionism that bright readers will be motivated to look them up. ?áAnd then there are 'sound poems' and Mimi's shoe collection (earned by singing in alleys under windows at night) and an homage to Williams' Plums and the cockroaches vs. the artists vs. the bourgeoisie and ... ?áand I'm sure there are plenty of references that I'm not getting, too, but wish I were....

This would be a terrific book in a classroom for cross-curricular studies. ?áNot only is it about the history of modern art (so to speak) and not only does it introduce some interesting poets but it's show more interactive: Mimi offers the writer several creative prompts for fun exercises we can try. ?áIn fact, it's more fun than anything else. ?áAnd don't underestimate children - it may seem advanced, but I think that any child, 4 to 104, would get something out of this, and probably something new every time they lose themselves in it. ?áDon't miss the author's note (as I almost did), the endpapers, the details in the background... spend at least 1/2 hour enjoying this. show less

Oh dear goodness, this book makes me wish that I knew a bunch of kids who were (a) not too old for picture books and (b) old enough to understand Dadaism. I'm not sure if those are mutually exclusive qualities, but Mimi's Dada Catifesto is an absolutely stunning tribute to this particular art form.

Mimi is a cat living in a top hat (with two cockroaches that live in the brim). She has a pigeon for a friend, and one night, she sees a Dadaist artist and knows she's finally found her human. She tries to show him that she is a kindred spirit in his dadaist movement but he doesn't always realize hairballs left on his doorstep are works of art. The little details are what make this book a true gem. Seriously. The newspaper whiskers might be show more the best thing ever. show less

I find this book to be hilarious, and would love to have it in my classroom. Mimi is quite the character, and the imagery calls upon dada art of the past, while still staying current and entertaining. There are many lessons to be learned from this book, such as acceptence of eachothers' creative nature and differences.

This book was weird. It was supposed to be and it passed that test with flying colors. I was only barely able to keep up with this odd plot. The book was about this strange art movement called Dadaism that seeks to prove that all the world is art. They do it by calling bizarre performance pieces and general randomness art. The end explained the goal of the movement. That was the only part that I truly understood. I'm not crazy about Dadaism, but I guess this book did its job.

Appropriately weird, silly, and iconoclastic.