One Moon, Two Cats

by Laura Godwin, Yoko Tanaka (Illustrator)

Overview

One moon.
Two cats
are not asleep.

Across a great distance, but under the light of the same moon, a city cat and a country cat pounce and play, crouch and leap in a rollicking nighttime adventure. When morning comes, they are both back in their respective homes and finally, turn in to sleep.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442434912
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/30/2011
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	32 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	2 - 6 Years

About the Author

Laura Godwin grew up in Alberta, Canada. She has written many well-loved books for children, including Barnyard Prayers, Little White Dog, Happy & Honey, and co-authored The Doll People, The Meanest Doll in the World, and The Runaway Dolls. She lives in New York City.

Yoko Tanaka is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She has illustrated Sparrow Girl by Sara Pennypacker and The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. She lives in Los Angeles and Bangkok.  You can visit her at yokotanaka.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Tanaka's...atmospheric paintings portray a pair of cats who spend their nights in the same way, under the same moon, though they never meet.... Godwin's...verse is economical and intelligently constructed; wit and action fill her two- and three-word lines. It's an interesting turn on the city mouse and the country mouse; it's clear that both ways of life suit the cats and allow them freedom. The reluctance to give either one primacy carries a quiet message of concord."

—Publishers Weekly, May 30, 2011

“Godwin’s spare, rhymed verse lends itself to the hushed tones of a bedtime read. Tanaka’s muted, ochre-cast acrylics are a good match for the text…cat fans will enjoy this sleeping and waking tale that starts and finishes on the end papers.”

—Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2011

“The brief, rhymed text changes size to match the rhythms of the cats’ adventures, and the rich acrylic paintings create an air of nighttime mystery. An ably told and atmospheric romp.”

—School Library Journal, August 2011

“[A] twist on the familiar is enlivened by Godwin’s succinct verse…and by acrylic art in which Tanaka captures the serene and agile feline grace…. A pleasing bedtime adventure that could also engage small groups.”

—The Horn Book, November/December 2011

"The moonlit scenes are sophisticated yet accessible...a satisfying double story and illustrations created with considerable finesse."

—Booklist, October 15, 2011

From the Publisher

A city cat and a country cat prowl beneath the same dusky moon.

"One moon. / Two cats / are not asleep. / Cats yawn, / cats stretch, / cats look, / cats LEAP!" City cat watches trucks on the streets below its window. Country cat wends its way past sleepy pigs and ducks. Both groom and explore their separate landscapes until they see a mouse! They chase their mice across their very different territories. Just as each is about to pounce, lightning flashes—and it begins to rain. Both kitties return home in the rain, curl up and snooze into morning under the same sun. Godwin's spare, rhymed verse lends itself to the hushed tones of a bedtime read. Tanaka's muted, ochre-cast acrylics are a good match for the text, but, oddly she gives the cats humanlike eyes, which distorts the otherwise realistically depicted kitties. Even during the mouse chase, their eyes remain half-lidded, suggesting near-total exhaustion or, perhaps, an unseen romp in the catnip patch.

Overall, though, cat fans will enjoy this sleeping and waking tale that starts and finishes on the end papers.(Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews