Kitten's First Full Moon

Caldecott Medal Award Winner 2005

Citation:

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes.  (Greenwillow Books, 2004). 29p. Concept Picture Book.

Summary:

A young kitten sets out on an adventure to capture the moon believing it is a big bowl of milk.

Critique:

a.         The illustrations are drawn to accent the main characters, the kitten and the moon.

b.         The illustrations hues of black, white and gray illuminate the pages using the brightness of the full moon at night.  The kitten draws the reader into her adventure by physical actions she is involved in and the look of defeat when she is unsuccessful in reaching the mistaken bowl of milk.

c.         “Then, in the pond, Kitten saw another bowl of milk.  And it was bigger.  What a night!” (p. 17-18) expresses the excitement of the kitten only to be followed by defeat when she leaps into the pond and only gets wet.  Her attempts and failures continue throughout the story, until at last when she returns home a bowl of milk is waiting.

Curriculum Connection:  

Kitten’s First Full Moon is a nice complement to a science lesson on time of day or envisioning one object as another.  A balanced counterpart to address night to It Looked Like Spilt Milk for daytime.  Any young reader would enjoy the trials of Kitten.