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neilcake 's review for:
Tabby McTat
by Julia Donaldson
Easily the longest book I've been able to read to my little girl so far. Her attention wandered towards the last pages, but I was still able to finish it, and that was quite impressive.
I liked this one because the text compels you to read at a frantic pace with quite a clever rhythm. You can easily slide into a John Cooper Clarke style (without the expletives), which is a lot of fun. What it has to tell us about relationships, I'm not really sure - you have a cat losing a long term friend and finding a family, then, after being reunited with his friend, deciding he prefers his wife, while his son, who was unadoptable takes his place. It suggests Tabby McTat was only interested in the music while he searched for a mate, and that his friend doesn't care what cat he has with him - as long as it's a tabby one with a loud voice. Hm. Poignant.
Does the little girl like it? I should say so. She seemed to enjoy the rhythm and pace of the text, and I caught her beaming up at me from time to time as I barrelled through. I've only read it to her the once so far because I suspect getting all the way through it might have been a fluke, and I don't want that to be the case. I suppose I'll just try it again and see.
There's also a prodigious amount of detail in the illustrations which should only deepen the appreciation of this book as she gets older, because I'll be able to go "can you see a dog? How many kittens are on this page? What colour is the man's scarf? Can you see a wheelchair?" and really help her development and language skills. I'm very much looking forward to that.
I liked this one because the text compels you to read at a frantic pace with quite a clever rhythm. You can easily slide into a John Cooper Clarke style (without the expletives), which is a lot of fun. What it has to tell us about relationships, I'm not really sure - you have a cat losing a long term friend and finding a family, then, after being reunited with his friend, deciding he prefers his wife, while his son, who was unadoptable takes his place. It suggests Tabby McTat was only interested in the music while he searched for a mate, and that his friend doesn't care what cat he has with him - as long as it's a tabby one with a loud voice. Hm. Poignant.
Does the little girl like it? I should say so. She seemed to enjoy the rhythm and pace of the text, and I caught her beaming up at me from time to time as I barrelled through. I've only read it to her the once so far because I suspect getting all the way through it might have been a fluke, and I don't want that to be the case. I suppose I'll just try it again and see.
There's also a prodigious amount of detail in the illustrations which should only deepen the appreciation of this book as she gets older, because I'll be able to go "can you see a dog? How many kittens are on this page? What colour is the man's scarf? Can you see a wheelchair?" and really help her development and language skills. I'm very much looking forward to that.