The Little Kitten continues the My Little Animal Friend series brilliance

Nicola Killen has a knack for seasonal books. She’s done other books which have a younger demographic and are really cute. It’s her other books that resonate with us, specifically, The Christmas Reindeer, The Little Rabbit and now, The Little Kitten. The My Little Animal Friend series is one that you’ll hold onto in your forever library. They effortlessly ooze mono-chromatic seasonal charm. Reindeer was about winter, ‘Rabbit’ about spring and The Little Kitten is about fall. None of the books are about a specific holiday, rather, they tell a short, illustrated story about an animal during that season. These books have interactive die cut pages that allow you a glimpse into what the story might look like. That, combined with the unique combination of black and white illustrations, with just a couple touches of color add up to a really magical book.

In The Little Kitten we see Ollie, a curious six old-girl who has her cat in the wagon. It’s a crisp, cool autumn morning and they’re out for a walk. Whilst playing in the leaves they find another kitten who is seemingly without a home. After playing for a while with their new kitten friend the older cat has to take a nap. During that time the kitten gets wound up again and takes Ollie deeper into the forest. When the two get to a clearing in the woods she sees posters for someone who is looking for a lost kitten.

 This leads the two deeper into the forest, which in turn, allows the die cut elements of the book to really shine. The fact that you can see through the page on the right and that it makes sense from a color scheme is beautiful. It’s when you turn that page and the color patch that you saw, opens up into something entirely different. You see what made sense a moment ago turned on its head when the age appropriate and totally cool mind flip happens.

The small door turns into a massive forest. The country shack transforms into her bedroom. The art is soothing, creative and beautiful. She uses a variety of hues within black and white. Because the story happens at night and there are several patches of dense forest the desolation that a kid can feel lost in the woods really hits home. Killen also uses her words sparingly. It’s not poetic, so kids that don’t want rhyming words will be right at home. However, the sentences are crafted like poetry, so even those poetry kids who enjoy it will love the feeling of the book.

The only holiday hint are the pumpkins that you see through the book and a very quick look at a witch flying against a full moon. Astute readers will notice something on the tail end of her broom. Something that looks suspiciously like the little lost feline that Ollie helped find her way home. If the Halloween witch works anything like Santa Claus then I suspect that Ollie will receive extra candy this year.  

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