Tuesday Storytime, Summer Reading: Animal Heroes

This was our last program, and I finally got to be the one to give it!  YAY!

After this, we're back into the random free-association themes that I come up with on my own.


Hero Cat
Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Jo Ellen McAllister Stammen
ISBN: 9780761452232
Mama Cat saves her five kittens from a burning building - true story!

A fictionalized story of a Mama Cat who nested down in an abandoned city building to have her kittens, and when she finds the building on fire, runs into it 5 times (burning herself badly in the process) to save each of her kittens.  The last page has a quick info page with a picture of Hero Cat and her babies.


Bertie Was a Watchdog
Rick Walton, illustrated by Arthur Robins
ISBN: 0763613851
Bertie the tiny dog uses brains, not brawn, to trick a burglar into betraying himself.

Bertie was a watchdog, not because he was big or scary or fierce, but because he was the SIZE of a watch.  As in tiny.  Really tiny.  So when a burglar comes by, he nearly dies laughing at this little dog.  But Bertie challenges the burglar to a series of contests, and the burglar keeps winning.  Could it be that Bertie wants to lose?  I normally don't like illustrations that are loose and chaotic and wildly colored, but this book is perfect for it, and I love it.  As a performance note, it does require the reader to bark for a good long while (which the kids are super thrilled about).


Francis the Scaredy Cat
Ed Boxall
ISBN: 0763617679
Francis is scared of the dark, and of the monster in the tree, but he's got to go look for his missing friend, right?

I think this is the sweetest, most understated story I tell.  Francis is a big orange cat who has a lovely human friend named Ben, and a big secret: he's afraid of the dark, and of the monster that lives in the scary tree outside.  One stormy night Ben is late, and Francis braves the dark and the tree and the monster to find and rescue him.  Of course, the monster turns out to be a new friend, and Ben was never lost at all, but still - I love to read to kids how scared Francis is, and how being brave doesn't mean being unafraid.  The subtext of being afraid of the unknown is handled very nicely also, with the dark scary stranger turning out to be a sweet black cat who helps Francis.