Monday, March 24, 2025

Historical fiction in the picture book format!

 I love that the picture book format is so well suited to telling a factual story.  There are so many great picture books that take an overlooked piece of history and spin a yarn around it. This is a case in point, a story about how a stray cat won two blue ribbons at a cat show in a fancy hotel. The author and illustrator are sisters! The final two paragraphs of the author's note are delightful:

"It is the job of adults to make and change laws, but I think it's young people who change the culture. Children, like my fictional Louise and real-life you, are often able to see the world not as it is but as it should be.

Furry friends help, too. The year after the contest that inspired this story, Mr. Silver entered again and won six awards, including two first prizes, at the 1948 Greater St. Louis Cat Club Show. Hope sometimes comes on little cat feet."



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