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QUICK TAKE: The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling & Adventuring with Your Cat

Posted by: on: December 19, 2018

Emily Hall’s love of her cats and enthusiasm for taking them on outdoor adventures radiates on every page of The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling & Adventuring with Your Cat. This seven-chapter e-book is a colorful, well-designed, and easy-to-read guide about how to turn your cat into an adventure cat. Hall wrote her book “to help educate and encourage people to try adventuring with their cats” and picked content based on what she viewed as important info and on common questions she’s been asked. The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling & Adventuring with Your Cat available for free simply by subscribing to her blog Kitty Cat Chronicles.

In chapter one, Hall gives three reasons for people to have adventures with their cats. For starters, it’s fun! Hall inspired me to take my youngest cat to pet-friendly stores, restaurants, and parks this past year. Second, it’s a great way to bond! I learned that Rainy prefers to start out in her stroller when visiting new places, but that she also appreciates the opportunity to sit or walk next to me when she becomes comfortable. Third, it’s healthy! Rainy doesn’t like being outside by herself nor would she be safe. At the same time, an active cat like Rainy goes stir-crazy being indoors all day. Taking her on adventures is the solution.

Chapter two overviews the personality traits of an adventure cat. Those traits are: calm, confident, inquisitive, and easily-handled. My experience is that these traits are trickier to access than you might expect. Case in point is our oldest cat. In our house she displays all the traits of an adventure cat, but outside of her comfort zone those traits tend to diminish. When my husband and I used to take her to visit his parents, in contrast to Rainy who explores their house, Cinder curled up on a resting place and waited for us to go home. A year ago when I brought her outside, she plainly showed that she preferred the comforts of home by making a beeline for our house.

The next two chapters cover gear and training needed. Personally, I would recommend that one buy some gear, do some training, buy some more gear, and continue to alternate. If your cat absolutely hates the harness and/or the leash, the rest of the gear will be of no value. Even if your cat learns to accept them, there still may be limits to the adventures you’ll have with your cat and thus the type of gear you’ll have. Categorizing the gear as beginner, intermediate, and advanced would be helpful. Alternatively, given that Hall dedicates all of chapter six to road trips, perhaps chapter three and four could just cover the basic necessities.

Chapter five is dedicated to helping you brainstorm destinations for you and your cat. In this chapter, Hall lists backyard, pet stores, parks, and pet-friendly businesses. Elsewhere Hall also refers to the woods and on the water. A number of the photos show her cats in these more adventurous places. In her sequel, I’d like to see tips on how to acclimate cats to these vary different environments, each of which have their own dangers and perks.

In chapter six, Hall talks about road trips. She stresses that you call ahead to confirm that a hotel will allow you to bring a cat (or multiple cats) with you. This is sound advice anytime you take your cat to a public place. Some parks and businesses allow pets; others don’t.

What if you have a cat like our Bootsie who is nervous, shy, timid, and difficult to handle? Then chapter seven is for you! Even the least adventurous cat will tire of having nothing to do. Every cat needs enrichment: You can provide enrichment with scratchers, climbing trees, hiding places, and natural treats such as cat grass.

With three adventure cats of her own (Sophie has been adventuring for about 5-6 years. Kylo Ren for almost 3, and Caster for almost 2), Hall drew on her personal expertise to write The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling & Adventuring with Your Cat. If her guide inspires you to take your own cats on adventures, I highly recommend joining the online Facebook group KCC Adventure Cats, where members are encouraged to share adventure spots and suggestions, training tips and tricks, and fun photos and stories of their adventure cats, and more! Hall took a year to write her guide, which has received favorable feedback, and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

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Ra The Mighty Cat Detective by A.B. Greenfield

Posted by: on: November 23, 2018

Make way Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew! There’s a new detective team in town. In Ra The Mighty Cat Detective, Ra and his scarab beetle friend Khepri work to save a young servant girl who has been framed for theft of an amulet in a delightful new mystery for young people by A.B. Greenfield.

The duo of Ra and Khepri immediately won my affection. Ra is spoiled and lazy, liking nothing better than to sleep and eat 24-7, while Khepri is his hardworking sidekick. When Miu pleas for their help, Ra agrees only because he’s blackmailed by Khepri who threatens to fill Ra’s treats with dung if he does nothing. However, Ra soon finds himself enjoying the thrill of hunting down clues and prowling after suspects. He also shows that buried underneath his selfish demeanor lays a caring heart. The longer he works the mystery, the more convinced he becomes that Tedimut is innocent and doesn’t deserve a death sentence. As for Khepri, he proves himself as more than a sidekick, when he puts his life on the line to save Ra from an aggressive leopard and other dangerous encounters. He also shines as a character in his own right, using his mental prowress to figure out the real thief.

The setting for Ra The Mighty Cat Detective fascinated me. Greenfield seamlessly integrated details of ancient Egyptian court life, royal food, religious artifacts, and beloved animals into a comical and engaging adventure. What’s even more impressive is how much rooted in real history the mystery is. In the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery, one can find a statue of a cat and a scarab beetle, and this statue inspired Greenfield’s story. There really existed a Director of the Royal Loinclothes and other important people with long titles. Egyptians loved to serve all kinds of meat delicacies except for fish. Amulets were worn for luck and protection. Finally, Egyptians revered animals–particularly cats and beetles. Cats were often worshipped. As for beetles, they were favored due to Egyptians due to the ability of beetles to roll dung into large balls and to have baby beetles emerge from those balls.

I’d be remiss if I failed to mention other elements that I enjoyed. The plot is full of twists and turns. Every time Ra (and I) thought he’d figured out the suspect, a new piece of information proved him wrong. There is a huge cast of characters, especially of animals. Every reader will have their favorite, but mine is Miu, a cat whom everyone should have in their life due to her self-sacrificing and preserving personality. The style is easy-to-read and should appeal to both reluctant readers. At the same time, there’s enough attention to detail that avid readers will also find their attention held.

Although I’ve been trying to reduce the number of Advanced Reader Copies I accept, Ra The Mighty Cat Detective is one I couldn’t resist due to the original and fun concept. And now that I’ve been introduced to this new and endearing detective team, I’ll be watching for sequels.

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Freddy the Frogcaster and the Flash Flood by Jan Dean

Posted by: on: November 9, 2018

Freddy the Frogcaster is back, this time to tell readers about flash floods. In Janice Dean’s newest title, Freddy makes a mistake in his forecast but then later makes up for it by warning residents of an impending flash flood. Freddy the Frogcaster and the Flash Flood is another informative and entertaining picture book in Dean’s weather series.

Freddy has finally officially become a weekend weather reporter. This pleases him to no end, because he loves thinking, talking, and learning about all kinds of weather. He takes great pride in knowing that the town of Lilypad listens to and trusts his broadcast. Imagine then his dismay when Freddy realizes that the rain had moved north of his town, making his forecast incorrect. Even worse, the townspeople are upset, because they canceled evening events in lieu of the storm. Some of them go so far as to nickname Freddy “False Alarm Freddy”. Readers will relate to how terrible Freddy feels, while also learning through him that it’s okay to make mistakes, and that one should still pursue their dreams.

Despite being upset, Freddy returns to his job where he sees that another storm is on the horizon. Freddy once again issues flood watch warnings, and this time his prediction comes to pass. Floodwaters gush over streams and river banks, causing trees to fall and cars to be swept away. Some families have to be rescued.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to word constraints, Dean rushes through this part of the story. Readers will learn little else about flash floods in the main narrative, but instead will need to turn to the back pages for this information. While I found this section fascinating, especially the trivia about flash floods being the number one weather-related killer in the United States and the summaries of noteworthy historical floods, I would have preferred more of this data to be integrated into Freddy’s story.

Nonetheless, Dean has written yet another engaging story, one that makes weather attractive. The illustrations by Russ Cox remain colorful and reflective of the events in the narrative. Freddy the Frogcaster and the Flash Flood is a good first introduction to the series or a welcome addition for avid fans.

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Talon Come Fly With Me by Gigi Sedlmayer

Posted by: on: October 26, 2018

Talon Come Fly With Me by Gigi Sedlmayer is a quiet adventure about a young girl with special needs who befriends two mated condors. While the story suffers from a weak plot and simple writing, it’s also a heartwarming and informative one.

Nine-year-old Matica has a growth handicap that traps her inside a body the size of a two-year-old. It also causes her to be rejected by the residents in the remote village of Peru where she lives with her brother and Australian missionaries. Size however does not impact how she’s viewed by a local mating pair of condors. After a year of her watching them, Matica attempts to meet them face to face. She does this by visiting them in the same place day after day, until one of them becomes curious and flies near her. After this, she brings them dead lizards to eat. As a way of the male bird saying thank you, he flies up to her and allows himself to be touched.

Seldmayer could have easily filled a book with just the above drama, but instead strips her narrative to a few bare-boned chapters. She does the same disservice to Matica’s encounters with poachers, largely because Sedlmayer fails to integrate any tension, conflict, or surprise twists. Instead she relies heavily on a passive narrative laden with dialog. While this simplistic style might make the story more palpable for reluctant readers, it unfortunately left me at times bored.

After Matica has the opportunity to touch a male condor, her relationship expands to include his mate. When poachers attempt to steal a condor egg, the condor couple turn to Matica for help. She carries the egg home with her, where she keeps it warm. Every day the condors check with her to see if their baby has hatched. When the baby is finally born, Matica feeds it, cleans it, and even helps it to learn to fly. The second half of Talon Come Fly With Me is dedicated to Matica’s relationship with the baby condor, and here’s where Seldmayer’s admiration for these unique birds shines through.

Although Matica is a sympathetic character, a story from the viewpoint of the condors alone may have resulted in a stronger emotional connection for me. The condor family are the stars, and through Seldmayer’s detailed portrayal of them, I learned about their idiosyncrasies and their diminishing numbers. Talon Come Fly With Me is a pleasant way to launch one’s reading of nature books, after which one should turn to literary giants of the genre such as Jean Craighead George.

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QUICK TAKE: Isoscles’ Day, The Caterpillar That Became Enlightened

Posted by: on: October 12, 2018

Happiness is the theme of Isoscles’ Day by Kevin Meehan and The Caterpillar That Became Enlightened by Darryl Diptee. In the first, a dog named Isoscles finds happiness when rescued from neglect and abuse. In the second, a caterpillar named Sumi finds happiness not in the world around her but within herself.

My favorite part of Isoscles’ Day is the inspiration behind the picture book. Isoscles and his sister lived the first few years of their life not being allowed inside and being isolated from people. When his owners abandoned the dogs, Isoscles was separated from his sister but adopted by the author. For the first time in his life, Isoscles was introduced to a warm house and loving people. My second favorite part are the illustrations. Many are so realistic that they look photographs, while others are so whimsical that they made me laugh. I enjoyed seeing Isoscles happy. My final favorite part is the theme. Isoscles’ Day is about one special day in his new life. We see the food, toys, and friends that Isoscles likes. Adults could easily use this picture book as a model to show young readers how to create a book about a day in the life of their pet.

Unfortunately, Isoscles’ Day disappointed me in a couple of significant ways. The first way is that the plot tells me nothing about the background of Isoscles except in the end pages. Rip out those end pages and all that’s left is a somewhat bizarre story of a dog told by a random parade of animals. Did the author think that the real story was too serious for children to understand? The other way Isoscles’ Day frustrated me is that the author tries so hard to be funny that at times the story is cartoonish. For example, at one point a frog says, “You are too big to walk on this thread. Would you like to wear my thimble instead?” Again, I have to wonder why the author chose to tell a sweet story in such a fantastical way.

There is much I appreciated about The Caterpillar That Became Enlightened. For starters, there is a traditional plot with problems and solutions. Sumi starts out her life by eating leaves like all the other baby caterpillars, but soon finds herself wondering if there’s more to life than just food. She finds a tree and decides to explore it, despite her peers who warn her that the last caterpillar to climb the tree was never seen again. Another aspect of The Caterpillar That Became Enlightened that impressed is how the author simplifies a complex idea and simplifies it for younger readers. Most everyone has at some point in their life found themself dissatisfied with life, despite how rich their life might be with people and possessions. In this picture book, Sumi climbs to the top of the tree and for a while is happy, but then once again finds herself dissatisfied because she’s looking for externals to make her happy.

The Caterpillar That Became Enlightened is about the deeper forms of happiness. For Sumi, peace is found by taking deep breaths and clearing her mind, which allows her to feel interconnected to everyone and everything in the world. I’m also not sure what the point of having Sumi turn into a butterfly is, unless to show that people who are content are transformed. Even if I don’t completely agree with the way Sumi found happiness, the author does share an important message in an entertaining format.

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