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The Blurb
Cat and Dumpling are best friends, but they're very different. Cat is an impulsive dreamer who loves to knit, and Dumpling is a cautious planner who loves gardening. In these chapter books for early readers, the pair's far-fetched schemes and conflicting ideas wreak warm-hearted slapstick havoc, but always with a happy ending and a reassertion that despite their differences Cat and Dumpling will always be the very best of friends.
In Home Sweet Home, Cat and Dumpling meet for the very first time. They're both searching for the perfect home and have very different needs. Eventually they stumble across the perfect place-the only problem is, they both want the same flat! Can the pair survive as flatmates, or will their differences just be too much to overcome?
My Review
This is a charming book that will appeal to early readers.
Cat and Dumpling are adorable characters. I think the author has done a great job to convey their personalities in so few words. The reader really gets a sense of their differences and similarities.
Children will enjoy this book regardless of whether they have a pet of their own. Cat and Dumpling both demonstrate the quirkiness that a pet can have beautifully.
It is well written for early independent readers, particularly those who are ready to embrace chapter books. Indeed, this would be a perfect book to introduce children to the concept of chapters within a book.
The author has illustrated the book to enhance the text and it does so very well. I like the simple and colourful nature of the pictures.
The book has much to say about kindness, sharing and compromise and is a joy to read.
I am delighted that Cat and Dumpling will be back later this year with the upcoming book, Cat and Dumpling: The Talent Show.
Book Details
ISBN: 978 0192788450
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Formats: Paperback
No. of Pages: 96
Purchase Details
About the Author
Nicola lives in Hackney, London with her partner, two teenage children, a cat called Firelight and a dog called Milly.
She grew up in north London and has been writing stories and drawing pictures for as long as she can remember. She made her first picture book in a sketchbook with her mum when she was five.
When she left school, she studied English and Art at university, and then got a place on a traineeship with BBC Television. She worked as a producer for over ten years, making programmes about subjects as diverse as priceless paintings and problem pets!
After she had her children, she decided to follow her dream of making books for children and went back to college to study an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Her debut book The Strongest Mum was shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards, and in 2019 she won the Independent Booksellers’ Best New Illustrator Award.
She is now creating books for children from 0-7, including novelty board books, non-fiction books and early chapter books as well as picture books.
When she is not at her desk she loves reading, brisk walking, going to the cinema and theatre, and cuddling her cat and dog.
You can also find Nicola at:
(book and media courtesy of the author)
(all opinions are my own)
(Bookshop.org affiliated)
