Why Do Kittens Purr? by Marion Dane Bauer, Henry Cole (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Lions roar in the dining room and frogs hop down the stairs as a child's curiosity leads to whimsical fun. Marion Dane Bauer and Henry Cole create an inviting child's-eye view of the world in their imaginative book.

Publishers Weekly

A boy's real and imaginary worlds merge in this simple but intriguing picture book. As the narrator asks why various animals (and, eventually, the moon and the sun) behave as they do, each makes an appearance in his house. "Why do spiders spin?/ To make a plate/ to keep their dinner in," writes Bauer (My Mother Is Mine; Runt, reviewed Oct. 14). Cole's (Some Smug Slug) acrylic and pencil drawings transform a dining room wall into a green field of sunflowers across which stretches a web. The juxtaposition of the real and the imagined seems both natural and unexpected at the same time. The boy's chair and bedroom dresser sit atop a lush grass lawn as if it were a commonplace arrangement for the line, "So why do bees buzz? Just because!" Cole varies the perspective, angles and colors of each illustration. The boy watches through staircase spindles as green frogs leap down stairs strewn with lily pads. A black bear's snow-covered lair appears next to an overstuffed chair. The gentle text combines sweetness with humor, but the verses seem randomly placed, leaching the narrative tension. While most of the stanzas are cleverly conceived, a forced rhyme or change in rhythm occasionally detracts from the overall quality of the verse. It is Cole's scruffy-haired boy who will most spark readers' curiosity and fancy. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Marilyn Courtot - Children's Literature

Henry Cole has acquired a bit of reputation for drawing cats. His best known may be those that appear in the Julie Andrews books about Little Bo and her master Billie. In this picture book by Marion Dane Bauer, the question posed by the title might be best answered—just because. However, readers will discover that kittens purr because they are happy and as the story progress to more fanciful animals such a lions that roar and spiders that spin, small tidbits about the way animals react are impart in the rhyming response to each question. "What song do robins sing in spring? "This day is fine. / This nest, this tree, this world / are mine!"" Cole has added humor to his drawing as he usually does and it is great to see the wide-eyed boy looking at all of these animals and also seeing them so well rendered in acrylic paints and colored pencil. The closing scenes show this menagerie and the young boy all safely tucked in for the night, and then awakening to a brightly shining sun in the morning which adds yet another dimension to the story. The bright orange endpapers let readers know that this will be happy, cheerful book. 2003, Simon & Schuster,

School Library Journal

PreS-A picture book with questions and answers about different animal behaviors. "Why do kittens purr? Because they're happy, deep inside their fur." "Why do puppies pat their paws, raise their rumps, twirl their tails? To say, `Let's play!'" "So why do bees buzz? Just because!" The rhymes vary in length, pattern, and rhythm, creating an uneven flow, but children will enjoy the onomatopoeic words. The acrylic-and-colored-pencil illustrations depict a wide-eyed little boy and are similar in style to those in Henry Cole's Jack's Garden (Greenwillow, 1995). The first two spreads show realistic settings. With the third question, "What makes lions roar?" the child's imagination takes over-a roaring lion appears alongside the dining room table, lily pads float at the bottom of the stairs, wolves howl on the sofa, and more. While the lack of a smooth transition from reality into fantasy is a bit confusing, once they are in the world of imagination, young readers will enjoy the story. Preceded by a picture of hibernating bears, the return to reality is more gentle: the lights are out and the moon is shining in on the boy and his stuffed animal friends in bed. Children will appreciate this clue and want to find all of the toys in the previous pages. While some of the pictures lack inspiration, the best of them have wonderful details, both obvious and hidden, and the representation of nature is exact and beautiful. Readers who enjoy Bauer's My Mother Is Mine (S & S, 2001) will appreciate this title.-Carolyn Janssen, Children's Learning Center of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Playful verses explore the mysteries of the animal kingdom with the wide-eyed wonder of a child. Bauer's (Runt, 2002, etc.) simple rhymes form a tongue-in-cheek lesson on the whys and wherefores of animal behavior. The animals featured are an engaging blend of creatures of high-interest to the preschool set. She examines a puppy's wagging tail, a lion's ferocious roar, some squeaky mice, and hibernating bears. The format of the text follows a set pattern in which an observation about the natural world is presented as a basic question, with answers that are sometimes fanciful and other times factual. Bauer even arranges the responses into clever riddles for readers to decipher: "Why do spiders spin? To make a plate to keep their dinner in." Cole's (City Chicken, Jan. 2003, etc.) colored-pencil and acrylic illustrations pull the tale together, featuring a young boy wandering through his house and encountering the varied fauna described in the verses. Cole's paintings are at their best when they blend the reality of the boy's life with the fantastical images of the animal antics: a humongous lion lounges next to the kitchen table, holding a bowl labeled "kitty," a tree branch grows into the child's bedroom through a window, and frogs hop down stairs that end in a lily pond. Full of fun, Bauer's tale is just right to share with fledgling naturalists. (Picture book. 3-7)

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Lions roar in the dining room and frogs hop down the stairs as a child's curiosity leads to whimsical fun. Marion Dane Bauer and Henry Cole create an inviting child's-eye view of the world in their imaginative book.