Calabash Cat & His Amazing Journey
Author & Illustrator: James Rumford
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Year of Publication: 2003
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book or Kirkus Review rating: Hornbook Review of 2
Summary: This book is about a Cat’s journey through Africa. The cat is from Chad, which is in the middle of Africa. He sets off to see where the world ends. On his exciting journey he meets a camel, a horse, a tiger, a whale, and finally a whale who shows him the truth that the other animals failed to show him. The cat travels by getting a ride on each animals back through Africa.
Summary of Professional Review: According to Horn book this book is rated a rating of a 2. The review gives a brief, detailed description of the book and what Calabash the Cat does on his journey. The author uses folk-art patterns from chad to decorate each animal which Horn book believes is crucial to creating a book like this. Arabic text parallels the English according to the Hornbook review, adding to the message that different parts of the world tend to see things from their own perspectives, but that the only way to see clearly is to rise above it all.
Review by Sasha Ishak: This book is very informing and also very interesting. The text is simple yet interesting. On one side of the book the text is in Arabic and on the other side in English. This allows students who speak Arabic to fully understand the deep meaning behind this fun book. The illustrations are very interesting in black, thick geometric patterns with designs in them, and the book as an occasional splashes of color on the pages. The plot of the story is that the Cat keeps meeting animals that are giving him wrong information they keep pointing him to the end of the world, but their information is not accurate. Finally the Cat meets an eagle that shows him where the world ends.The overall design and format of the book keeps readers entertained and most importantly it is a high rated book for young readers. This is a simple story with a repetitive narrative that will keep young readers entertained. Calabash Cat is a billingual book that is delightful, fun, and the illustrations are vivid and extremely memorable.
This book would be useful when teaching:
Calabash Cat is a great fiction book to introduce when introducing a unit about different cultures in a first or second grade classroom. The book shouldn’t be introduced until a child knows about cultures and about different parts of the world around them. The teacher can read this book to children when introducing the Arabic- African culture. This simple story has such a good lesson behind it. A teacher can ask a question to start the lesson that will allow young students to think about the world around them. The question can be: Is the world you see the only one there is? This will allow students to explore different parts of the world and different cultures besides their own. After reading and discussing this book, the teacher can have students create their own calabash animal. They can do this by simply creating a animal out of outlines based on examples. The teacher can make one and have students use his/ hers as an example. Maybe the teacher can make outline animals and have student create their own design inside based on what they think their culture represents. With the help of the teacher the students can create artwork that is based on a very informative book that has a deep lesson behind it. The teacher can then create a second lesson and have the students share their artwork with their peers and describe their culture.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Year of Publication: 2003
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book or Kirkus Review rating: Hornbook Review of 2
Summary: This book is about a Cat’s journey through Africa. The cat is from Chad, which is in the middle of Africa. He sets off to see where the world ends. On his exciting journey he meets a camel, a horse, a tiger, a whale, and finally a whale who shows him the truth that the other animals failed to show him. The cat travels by getting a ride on each animals back through Africa.
Summary of Professional Review: According to Horn book this book is rated a rating of a 2. The review gives a brief, detailed description of the book and what Calabash the Cat does on his journey. The author uses folk-art patterns from chad to decorate each animal which Horn book believes is crucial to creating a book like this. Arabic text parallels the English according to the Hornbook review, adding to the message that different parts of the world tend to see things from their own perspectives, but that the only way to see clearly is to rise above it all.
Review by Sasha Ishak: This book is very informing and also very interesting. The text is simple yet interesting. On one side of the book the text is in Arabic and on the other side in English. This allows students who speak Arabic to fully understand the deep meaning behind this fun book. The illustrations are very interesting in black, thick geometric patterns with designs in them, and the book as an occasional splashes of color on the pages. The plot of the story is that the Cat keeps meeting animals that are giving him wrong information they keep pointing him to the end of the world, but their information is not accurate. Finally the Cat meets an eagle that shows him where the world ends.The overall design and format of the book keeps readers entertained and most importantly it is a high rated book for young readers. This is a simple story with a repetitive narrative that will keep young readers entertained. Calabash Cat is a billingual book that is delightful, fun, and the illustrations are vivid and extremely memorable.
This book would be useful when teaching:
Calabash Cat is a great fiction book to introduce when introducing a unit about different cultures in a first or second grade classroom. The book shouldn’t be introduced until a child knows about cultures and about different parts of the world around them. The teacher can read this book to children when introducing the Arabic- African culture. This simple story has such a good lesson behind it. A teacher can ask a question to start the lesson that will allow young students to think about the world around them. The question can be: Is the world you see the only one there is? This will allow students to explore different parts of the world and different cultures besides their own. After reading and discussing this book, the teacher can have students create their own calabash animal. They can do this by simply creating a animal out of outlines based on examples. The teacher can make one and have students use his/ hers as an example. Maybe the teacher can make outline animals and have student create their own design inside based on what they think their culture represents. With the help of the teacher the students can create artwork that is based on a very informative book that has a deep lesson behind it. The teacher can then create a second lesson and have the students share their artwork with their peers and describe their culture.