A Cat Named Swan

Starred review from December 5, 2016
“Then he was alone.” With this abrupt opening sentence, Hobbie (Hansel & Gretel) launches readers and her hero—a solitary, homeless kitten whose family has vanished—on an extraordinary trajectory. After barely surviving life on the streets, the kitten is taken to a shelter and adopted by a family who name him Swan. Everything changes. The once-scruffy Swan turns sleek. He has the run of the house and garden (one particularly memorable image is a close-up of his green eyes, mesmerized by butterflies). He sleeps wherever he wants—a sense of privilege familiar to any cat owner. Loving voices call him Swannie and Swansie, and his habits are affectionately observed (“Aren’t those paws clean?” muses one of his owners. “They must be clean by now”). “After many days had passed,” Hobbie writes, “he knew that the days would continue to come and go in the same way.” With a remarkable combination of restraint and narrative power, Hobbie turns an animal adoption story into something much more: a meditation on the quotidian bliss of unconditional love. Ages 3–7.

November 15, 2016
Barely surviving in the city, an abandoned kitten finds the perfect home.After his mother and siblings disappear, a kitten scavenges food and eludes the ubiquitous threats of the urban streets. Removed from his life of danger to a place of safety (the pound), the kitten discovers "boredom was better than misery." But boredom is relieved when the kitten is soon swept away amid "voices and laughter" into "sunshine and blue sky." Relocated to a place with a house, a yard, and a white family that names him Swan, the kitten gradually realizes this is now his house, his yard, and his family and quickly adjusts to a routine of napping, hunting, grooming, eating, and playing. While the unadorned text relies on language reflecting Swan's sensory and emotional responses, Hobbie's realistic pencil-and-watercolor illustrations provide visual details of his transition from the dingy grays, blacks, and browns of dirty city alleys to the glorious full-color countryside. City scenes reveal a scraggly, fearful Swan crouching amid trash cans and cowering in the rain. In contrast, post-adoption illustrations show a playful Swan from various perspectives, aloft in a tree, perched atop a stone wall, watching butterflies with wide-eyed wonder, and curled next to a sleeping girl, reinforcing the perfection of his new life. A luminous, heartwarming story of one kitten's transformative journey. (Picture book. 3-6)

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January 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-A stray kitten survives living on the streets until he is adopted. After he emerges from the cardboard box in which he was born to discover his mother and siblings gone, the little feline manages to find food and shelter even amid the "constant danger[s]" he encounters from harsh weather, menacing dogs, and bike-riding strangers. His feral days end, though, when an animal control officer rescues him from a tree and takes him to a shelter. Life there is much less frightening, and the kitten endures its boring routine until he is gleefully claimed by a loving family. They name him Swan, and through their constant care, he gradually learns that their house and yard are his as well and that "the people [are] his people and he [is] theirs." Hobbie's lovely watercolor illustrations are initially executed in a predominantly gray palette and alternate between large framed pictures and vignettes surrounded by plenty of white space. Cat's-eye views depict everyday objects such as bottles, garbage cans, and bicycle wheels looming over tiny Swan. The background then becomes bright blue as eager hands swoop up the astonished kitty and take him home. Brilliant yellow provides a backdrop for interior and outdoor family scenes that effectively convey the delightful change in Swan's fortunes. Whether looking out from the cover, huddling beneath a bench, cavorting with family members, or up close chasing a butterfly, Swan will endear himself to young readers. VERDICT A fine catalyst for discussing the merits of pet adoption and a sweet and lovely animal story that's perfect for one-on-one and small group sharing.-Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA

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