December 2010 Book Club Selection
Print/braille edition, in contracted braille.
Ages 4-8
This early chapter book is an intimate look at friendship, in the tradition of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad. The subtle dance of friendship - from holding your tongue to knowing what to say - is played out in three sweetly humorous tales about an unlikely, likable pair.
Catina (a cat) and Houndsley (you guessed it, a dog) are best friends, and they encourage each other as best friends do. Houndsley is mortified when he reads his friend's novel-in-progress (Life Through the Eyes of a Cat), and realizes that Catina has little writing talent. Then Catina encourages Houndsley to enter a cooking competition, and he's so nervous that he forgets to add the beans to his famous three-bean chili.
So what should Houndsley say about Catina's seventy-four-chapter memoir? And can Catina find the right words of comfort for Houndsley after the big cooking contest fiasco? In the end, Houndsley realizes that he is happy to experience the joy of cooking - he can live without fame - and Catina confesses that she does not enjoy the process of writing. When Houndsley suggests that she can be famous for something else and tells her that she is good at being a friend, Catina purrs, "Being your friend is better than being famous." |
