Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-Polacco has created another picture book filled with warmth and love. A student teacher, Danielle, rescues a kitten, and when she gets a teaching job that takes her to Port Townsend, WA, and a house on a bay, they settle in. Then Autumn is wounded and lost in a thunderstorm, and despite Danielle's class's efforts to find her, she appears to be gone for good. Everyone is amazed when she returns weeks later, fit as a fiddle. Danielle eventually meets the man who has cared for her pet, and they fall in love. This is a lovely story, with a strong sense of place and illustrated with Polacco's trademark patterns and facial structures. While this story is too long for a traditional storytime, it could be used successfully as a one-on-one read.-Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this paean to a feline friend, Polacco tells how the love of a cat leads to comfort, worry and romance. Student-teacher Danielle adopts Autumn as a kitten and brings her to Washington state when she gets a job there. All is well in their "enchanted cottage by the sea" until a wounded Autumn disappears on a stormy night. Danielle's young students help her search, to no avail. Six weeks later, Danielle and her students plant flowers to memorialize Autumn, and, as if summoned, Autumn appears--with stitches on her tail! A stranger has cared for the cat, and when he scrawls his number on Autumn's collar, Danielle phones him at the children's urging. When he shows up, it's clear that Danielle and Stephen are meant to be, complete with romance-movie effects. The unabashed focus on Danielle's fairy-tale-like romance seems to appeal more to an adult sensibility than a child's, and some might wonder at the students' close involvement in their teacher's private life, but child readers will doubtless respond to Autumn's genuinely vivid personality. (Picture book. 7-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
