Caldecott Award Winner: Kitten's First Full Moon

 

This book has to be one of the sweetest books that I have ever read!  It was adorable!  Kitten’s First Full Moon is another Caldecott Award winning book.  This book was written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes and received the prestigious award in 2005. 

The entire book is illustrated using blacks, grays, whites, and creams, which is not often seen in children’s “picture books”, but to my surprise was one of the best parts about the book!  The illustrations are understated and simple, but seemed to perfectly capture the innocence of the main character, the kitten.  The illustrations also seem luminous and give a dreamy feel. 

This simple little story captures the sweet struggle of Kitten, who sees her first full moon and because no one has ever explained to her what the moon is, the kitten thinks it's a bowl of milk in the sky.  The kitten chases, climbs, leaps, and tumbles trying to get to that big bowl of milk in the sky, but is not able to get to it.  When she opens her mouth to lick the treat, she ends up with a bug on her tongue.  Then, she launches herself into the air reaching out for the bowl of milk, but just tumbles down the stairs.   The kitten persistently attempts to get to that bowl of milk, but yet is unable to do it.  This struggle gives the underlying message to the readers to work toward their dreams even though it may be a struggle at times, but never give up. 

This story line also relates to innocence and how prior knowledge or lack-there-of often sway readers.  The kitten thought that the full moon was a bowl full of milk when she first saw it.  This is because no one had ever explained what it was, and she related it to what it looked like...a bowl full of milk.  When readers read or experience new things they use their prior knowledge.  If they encounter something new to them they use their prior knowledge to try to put pieces of information together to decipher this new experience and try to put meaning to it.  We, as teachers, often do not take into account children’s innocence and what prior knowledge they have or do not have.  Sometimes we forget to think about what children know and what they do not know.  Also, we forget to think that one student’s prior knowledge may be completely different from another student’s prior knowledge and that can result in completely different thoughts and conclusions.  We should never just assume that students know things just because we, as teachers, or even other students for that fact, have the prior knowledge.  Even though this lesson may not have directly related to the authors purpose and message, it is one of the things that I took away from the book. 

I would highly recommend this book to others and I am anxiously waiting to add this one to my personal library!