Kitten's First Full Moon

* Henkes, Kevin. Kitten's First Full Moon. Greenwillow Books, 2004.

"It was Kitten's first full moon. When she saw it, she thought, There's a little bowl of milk in the sky. And she wanted it."

Though illustrated with gouache and coloured pencil, Henke's use of an almost entirely black-and-white pallette, the strong sense of line, and the subject matter remind me of Millions of Cats. But the story here is much sweeter and more whimsical: Kitten keeps trying to get at the bowl of milk in the sky, and various misadventures follow until she returns home wet, tired, hungry and disappointed - only to find her own little bowl of milk waiting for her on the porch where she began.

How do the pictures tell the story?

The text and illustrations work together well to tell this simple story. Although the illustrations don't extend the story beyond the textual narrative, they do visually clarify ideas in the text and add to the expressiveness of the story. The layout of the illustrations shifts between full page spreads, series of comic-like frames, and individual elements isolated on an white background. The pages which feature the cat in one corner and the moon in the other on an otherwise blank page provide structure for the narrative, working with the text to create repeating elements that highlight the patterened language and help reinforce the concept that the "bowl of milk" Kitten sees is actually the moon (when this is not mentioned in the text). The overall effect is enchanting, humorous and exceedingly likeable. A great read-aloud.

A Caldecott Medal Book.