Kitty Caterpillar’s art turns a cute tale into a great illustrated book

Silly illustrated books need an ending that simultaneously makes young children roll their eyes and yearn for more. Kitty Caterpillar got that memo. This is an illustrated book about a cat with too many legs, her misadventures when curiosity gets the better of her and her short, but eventful quest to find her early elementary school human best friend. Kitty Caterpillar has illustrations that bring home the bacon. When kids engage with the book, they’ll giggle at the story, but be enthralled with the art.

The art by Brigette Barrager is what completes the book. It does the heavy lifting and ensures that young audiences won’t wiggle away when they’re looking at the book. The illustrations will remind older readers (see: adults) of Salvador Dali, classic Looney Tunes cartoons (Pepe le Pew) or even some of the drawings from Dr. Seuss. That’s high praise, but adults should look at the absurdness of the cat, its body that’s as long as the keys on a piano, its two whiskers that extend upwards almost half of its body length, the multiple shades of pink on its body and its five pairs of purple feet. Kitty Caterpillar’s yellow eyes and pitch-black pupils combine to make this baby cat look more alien than feline. Curiosity that’s normally attributed to cats will be transferred to those children who pick up the book.

Kitty Caterpillar starts out by going through her routine. She’s the queen of the castle and has all of her needs attended to, but it’s not enough. She needs to play. She jumps on Hazel’s bed and adores it when she’s getting a hug. Where does Hazel go during the day? That’s the one thing she wants to know. One day she puts on five pairs of shoes and slips through the mail slot. Outdoors she’s able to chase the butterfly that piqued her curiosity, as well as, lots of other things to discover for better or worse.

Soon enough, bad things do start to happen. She tries to capture some birds in the birdbath, but they’re quicker than her and she lands headfirst. The weather goes south, too, and all of this adventure has her looking for a hug from Hazel. When she sees the butterfly after the storm, she’s hopeful that it will lead to Hazel, but will it?

If Hundreds of Beavers is a film representation of a real-life Looney Tunes movie; then Kitty Caterpillar is the sweeter and more thoughtful version of an illustrated book with that DNA in it. When kitty is reunited with Hazel, she’s immediately greeted with a hug and a blanket to dry her wet fur. This quickly calms her to where she falls into a catnap, dreaming of becoming another fantastical creature even more wondrous than a kitty caterpillar. The ending! It sticks the ending, and then twists it just a bit leave young audiences with a smile.

On its own, this is a silly story that has promise. When you add these illustrations, especially in the manner and style in which they’re done, it puts Kitty Caterpillar into another league. Ah, this is a book about being yourself! No, it’s about change and conquering things that are new to you! It could be about both of those things, but at the heart of the book is just fun. Sure, the cat is comforted by Hazel and she has some comedic things happen to her, but it’s not a ‘message’ book.

Sometimes a good book just is. It exists to entertain. All it wants to do is give kids a smile and maybe get them to learn to love to read. Kitty Caterpillar does all of that. The only drawback, and it is a minor one, is that it’ll speak more to girls than it will to boys. However, take the win. This is a great illustrated book whose art will drag in kids who normally wouldn’t get near an illustrated book with ‘kitty’ or ‘caterpillar’ in the title. Even those reluctant boys who are seated for circle time will enjoy the book. They might do so begrudgingly… but the ease with which they’ll enjoy the book might encourage their reading habits as they move into chapter books.

Kitty Caterpillar is by Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White, with illustrations by Brigette Barrager and is available on Balzer + Bray, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing.

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