Cat lovers will immediately be drawn to the goofy, engaging orange stripey cat who dominates the colorful double-page spreads throughout “Thumpy Feet.” Lewin’s wonderfully expressive illustrations capture the movement and energy of the cat’s activities as he eats, bathes, plays, and sleeps. Some readers will find the text less wonderful, with cutesy words and sounds like “smacky smacky smack smacky smack” and “noddy nod noddy noddy noddy nod” or “snoozy snooze.” The text rapidly becomes repetitive. Read-aloud success will be highly dependent upon the reader’s expressiveness. The bold watercolors more than compensate for the spare text. The action begins (and ends) on the endpapers, following Thumpy on the prowl and vividly conveying his energy and antics across every page. The pictures alone will encourage smiles and snickers even when a reader merely thumbs through the pages. Meet an adorable new feline, an energetic orange cat with big green eyes and a wonderfully expressive face. His day is spent eating, bathing, playing, snoozing, and playing again, much like the day of the book’s intended audience. Lewin plays with words and sounds as she takes us through Thumpy’s day; the text is composed of simple words and sounds like thumpy thump, smacky smack, licky lick, looky look, pouncey pounce, flippy flip, yawny yawn, noddy nod, snoozy snoozy, looky look. There are only a few varyingly colored words per page; their color and placement on the page implies movement, mimicking what we see in Lewin’s bright watercolors. The paintings show only the basics, keeping the focus on his goofy face and antics. Action begins and ends on the endpapers, which in the front show a prowling Thumpy and in the back display his trying to catch a ball of yarn. Children won’t be able to stop themselves from repeating the text’s great language or from giggling their way through this delightfully simple book. In this case, less is definitely more. The book would be perfect for toddler storytime or for beginning readers to enjoy on their own.
What do You think about Thumpy Feet (2013)?
Illustrations are great--especially "looky look" page--it made me and my kids laugh.
—Rhea
Just a sound and motion book about a cat. Nice read-aloud.
—taneka
A cool cat's catchy sounds ensemble.- Monty K.
—regisnex
