April’s Kittens by Clare Turlay Newberry, Caldecott Honor book, 1941.

This picture book is first of all a Cat Book. If you’re a cat person, you will probably like it, and if not . . . maybe you will still enjoy the story. And the illustrations. Ms. Newberry must have been a Cat Person who liked to draw cats because she wrote and illustrated at least two other cat books, Mittens, about a boy named Richard who wants a cat and Babette, about the adventures of a Siamese kitten. Her picture book Barkis, another Caldecott Honor book, is about a cocker spaniel, but it has a kitten in it, too. And Marshmallow, yet another Caldecott Honor book features a rabbit and a cat. Cats are everywhere in Clare Turlay Newberry’s books, and the cat pictures in April’s Kittens are as endearing as the story.

April is a “nice little girl” who lives in New York City with her mother, her father, and a black cat named Sheba. Other than the slightly old-fashioned interactions between April’s parents, there is nothing in the story or the illustrations that dates the story or makes it less than timeless. The family lives in a small “one-cat apartment” because “nobody has much room in New York because so many people are trying to live there at the same time.” That certainly sounds like present day New York City. And when Sheba has three kittens, April’s daddy says that they can only keep one cat, either Sheba or one of the kittens.

The remainder of the story is about what happens to Sheba and her kittens, Charcoal, Butch, and Brenda. April, of course, wants to keep all four cats, but there just is not enough room. April is six years old and still sleeps in a crib because there is not enough room for a real bed for her in their tiny apartment. To find out how April and her family solve their cat dilemma and their space dilemma, you’ll have to read the story.

This picture book is a bit more text-heavy than some more modern picture books, with several paragraphs on one page and a large illustration on the facing page. However, it would be perfectly readable in one read aloud session for five and six year olds, maybe even younger. And again, if you or your child is a Cat Person, then the story will not be too long, nor will the pictures lose their appeal even after much perusal.

Another beautiful Caldecott Honor book.