Cyril and Pat

by Emily Gravett, Emily Gravett (Illustrator)

Overview

From author-illustrator Emily Gravett comes a warm and funny picture book about friendship and loving someone different from yourself.

Cyril is a squirrel. Pat is a rat. They have a lot of adventures and fun together. But no one else thinks they should be friends.

In Emily Gravett’s brilliantly funny story, two friends learn that some things are more important than being the same, or following others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534439504
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 11.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Emily Gravett is the author and illustrator of many children’s books, including Matilda’s Cat, Again!, Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), Meerkat Mail, Tidy, and Old Hat. Her first book, Wolves, was the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration. Her second book, Orange Pear Apple Bear, was a Quills Award finalist, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and on the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Emily lives in Brighton, England, with her partner, their daughter, and the family dog. Visit her at EmilyGravett.com.

Emily Gravett is the author and illustrator of many children’s books, including Matilda’s Cat, Again!, Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), Meerkat Mail, Tidy, and Old Hat. Her first book, Wolves, was the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration. Her second book, Orange Pear Apple Bear, was a Quills Award finalist, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and on the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Emily lives in Brighton, England, with her partner, their daughter, and the family dog. Visit her at EmilyGravett.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/04/2019

Cyril, a lonely squirrel, is having so much fun with his new friend, Pat, that he doesn’t notice Pat is not actually another squirrel. And when other park animals try to point out why Pat is different, Cyril won’t listen. But one day, Pat’s true identity becomes unavoidable when humans in the park see Pat and flee: Pat, as readers will already know, is a rat. That seems to be the end of the friendship (“SQUIRRELS CAN’T BE FRIENDS WITH RATS!” a pigeon squawks), until Pat, in an act of bravery, reaffirms what Cyril knew in his heart along: real friendship has nothing to do with appearance. Gravett (Old Hat) possesses a cinematic sense of framing, and she fills her pages with wonderful visual bits—in one spread, a bird’s-eye view of the park traces the paths Pat and Cyril take to outwit a dog. She’s also created terrific ensemble of characters, from the self-important, rat-hating park denizens (a duck literally takes Cyril under one wing) to the titular duo, whose bright eyes and deep affection for one another are positively buoyant. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2019

PreS-Gr 2–Cyril is lonely. He is the only squirrel in the entirety of Lake Park. Until one day he meets Pat! Pat is a large, gray squirrel, or so Cyril thinks. He and Pat spend their days doing what squirrels do: putting on puppet shows, riding skateboards, playing hide-and-seek, scaring pigeons, stealing bread from ducks, and being chased by Slim the dog. Whatever they do, they do it together. And wherever they go, Cyril is told that Pat is "dirty" and "thieving," and he just isn't like him. Eventually, Cyril discovers that his friend Pat is indeed a rat. And squirrels can't be friends with rats! So Cyril is alone again and before long he finds himself in trouble. When he is rescued by his true friend Pat, Cyril realizes that friendship is more important than many things, including worrying about what others think. Lake Park still only has one squirrel, but he is never alone anymore, thanks to his brave best friend, Pat the rat. Gravett continues to impress by combining her colorful and witty illustrations with a sweet story while simultaneously sneaking in a very important lesson. This time, it's about the dangers of prejudice and stereotypes as well as the power of friendship. VERDICT An excellent read-aloud recommended for libraries everywhere.—Elizabeth Blake, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2019-02-13

Must you and your best friend be the same type of rodent?

This ode to friendship opens with the purest scansion and a hilarious setup (joyfully repeated later) that invites readers to chime in. "Lake Park only had one squirrel, / all alone and sad (poor Cyril). / Until the morning he met Pat, / his new best friend, a big gray…"—here's the page turn, where readers will shout rat—"SQUIRREL! Just like me," declares Cyril, arms wide open to Pat, who sports a wobbly smile and an extremely ratlike tail. The two romp all over their big-city park, startling pigeons, nabbing duck food, and fleeing a dog. Cyril interrupts all attempts to identify Pat as a rat. Only when humans—a black mom and child, each wearing a red sweater and red galoshes—let the rat out of the bag does Cyril see the truth. The other animals, annoyed, assert that "squirrels can't be friends with rats," and Pat (who's never gendered) slinks off the page. "Cyril, now back on his own, / tried to play their games alone." But he's unhappy—and unsafe. In a dark, visually stunning sequence outside the park, Pat saves Cyril, and all is well. Scansion (after the opening) and rhyming are inconsistent, but Gravett's great good humor and mischievous illustrations in pencil, watercolor, and acrylic ink are bang-on, as always—especially in the fact that besides tail and ear shapes, Cyril and Pat are almost identical.

Cheeky yet sincere. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews