My Dog, My Cat

May 16, 2011
First-time author Fletcher plays it safe in this back-and-forth monologue about her two pets. They're drawn as flat, graphic shapes, heavily outlined in black with big, wiggly frames in contrasting colors surrounding each drawing. A series of contrasting observations unfold ("My dog barks. My cat meows") and grow more complex. "My dog likes to dig down low" accompanies a picture of the dog looking eagerly at a hole under a bright sun. "My cat likes to climb up high" shows the cat on a tree limb against a night sky. Despite the differences between the two animals, pleasing symmetries can be found in the opposing panels (the zigzag of an errant baseball echoes that of an unraveling ball of yarn). The punch line is cuteâ"My dog and my cat both love pepperoni pizza! And my dog and my cat both love ME!"âand that's it. There's little visual development in the artwork and little that's unexpected about the text; both are straightforward and clear. Very young readers sometimes crave the security of simple stories, and Fletcher has given them one. Ages 3â8.

July 1, 2011

A simple and appealing story focuses on the differences between dogs and cats, with a patterned, predictable text that thoughtfully describes each divergent quality in concrete terms that preschoolers will understand.

The pattern uses a basic structure that contrasts the dog with the cat with one attribute or action noted in a short sentence set in large type at the bottom of each page. Fletcher's endearing, naive illustrations of a blue dog and an orange cat are set off with a framing device of bold, squiggly lines in vibrant hues. The facing pairs of illustrations are connected in subtle ways through similar design elements, with a sun shining behind the digging dog and the moon lighting up a night scene of the tree-climbing cat. The concluding pages demonstrate that the dog and cat are also similar, because both love pepperoni pizza and both love their owner. Overall, the illustrations have a cheery, innocent effect. Preschoolers will enjoy this as an early, simple story, and its straightforward text adapts well to beginning readers.. Teachers in the early-elementary grades will find the simple but clever text a worthwhile introduction to comparisons and a handy starting point for creative-writing activities.

Fletcher's first picture book is thoughtfully designed, with humor and a succinct text that will appeal to a broad age range. She is an illustrator to watch. (Picture book. 2-7)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

PreS-K-In this simple book of opposites, an unseen narrator describes the differences between his (or her) two pets. The dog, as pictured on the left, likes to chew bones, eat steak, be wet, and dig down low. The cat, shown on the recto, likes to chew catnip, eat tuna, be dry, and climb up high. But both pets are also alike sometimes, because they like pizza and their owner. Fletcher outlines the friendly blue dog and orange cat in thick, dark lines and surrounds each picture with a wide squiggly frame. The trim size, simple text, predictable story pattern, and obvious picture clues make this book a fine choice for beginning readers. A good start for a first-time author/illustrator.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
Preschool-K Little kids who have both a cat and dog may have noticed the dissimilarities between the two, and this simple yet fresh book gives insight into how dogs and cat differ. The unseen narrator is one of the lucky kids who has both at homea sprightly, sea-green dog and a friendly, orange tabby. The animals are illustrated in simple shapes outlined with heavy black strokes, and digitally colored squiggly lines in fruity colors frame each picture. The left-hand pages feature the dog's behavior, while the cat's appears across the spread, each described in one line of text. One barks; one meows. One's tongue is wet; the other's is rough. One does its business outside on walks; the other uses a litter box inside. It would be easy to turn this into a fun guessing game; beginning readers would take to it, too. An engaging treat.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)