Milli, Jack, and the Dancing Cat
Record details
- ISBN: 0399242406
-
Physical Description:
1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 28 cm.
print - Publisher: New York : Philomel Books, 2004.
Content descriptions
Summary, etc.: | Two wandering minstrels, Jack and the Dancing Cat, help Milli the shoemaker gain the self confidence she needs to express her many creative talents. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Creative ability Fiction Self-confidence Fiction Minstrels Fiction Dance Fiction Cats Fiction |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Bibliomation.
- 0 of 0 copies available at Seymour Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Killingly Library | jj Kin (Text) | 34040098415140 | Juvenile Picture Book | Available | - |
Publishers Weekly Review
Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Featuring a small gaggle of eccentric characters, this Australian picture book offers large giggles over its breezy watercolor illustrations of loopy, Seussian contraptions. "Milli could take a thing that was a nothing... and make it... a something!" Never brave enough to show her ingenious creations to other people, Milli resigns herself to making plain brown shoes in her shoe shop. Then one day she meets two wandering minstrels, Jack and Cat, who show her how to abandon her inner censor and dance. Not only do they teach her the two-step, but the three of them do "the tricky twisting backward-sliding four-step," and King's (Emily Loves to Bounce) lighthearted interior and jacket illustrations feature them cheerfully dancing in sunshine and rain with the style and verve associated with a 1950s musical. Dancing makes Milli "feel brave and free" enough to show her marvelous inventions to the world. King takes a flight of fancy with his visual depictions of what Milli invents, such as the crazy tuba-like instrument she fashions out of a telephone, lead pipes and a huge plastic flower, or the amazing cart she devises for Jack and Cat. Milli is initially worried about how the townsfolk will react to her art, but her fears, fortunately, prove unfounded. The barely disguised self-help theme doesn't dent this book's joie de vivre, which is likely to delight readers who share any of Milli's artistic leanings. Ages 4-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
The Horn Book Review
Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
The Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Milli is secretly a found-object artist but lacks the confidence to do anything but make boring shoes for the villagers+until wandering minstrels Jack and the Dancing Cat blow into town and teach her to dance and, by extension, be ""brave and free."" The message is well played and captured by King's loose, zesty ink and watercolor illustrations. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
Kirkus Reviews
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A parable of creativity fails to deliver enough story to hang its message on. Milli is clever: she "could take a thing that was a nothing . . . and make it . . . a something!" But she timidly hides all her tinkering with these somethings and makes her stolid living as a shoemaker--until Jack and the Dancing Cat, two wandering minstrels, come to town. They teach her to dance in exchange for new boots, and this unleashes Milli's creativity to the point that when Jack and the Dancing Cat move on, Milli has transformed her yard into a Seussian spectacle of whimsical art. King's delicate ink-and-watercolor illustrations are full of color and movement, the renderings of Milli's art wonderfully twirly and loopy (in both senses of the word). But for all its sweetness, the story really doesn't go much further than the basic celebration of creativity and exhortation to bravery. There's a raft of picture books on the theme out there; with such examples as Peter H. Reynold's The Dot (2003) available, this stands as an additional purchase. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ĆĀ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
School Library Journal Review
Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
PreS-Gr 3-Milli has a special gift for seeing the artful potential in ordinary, forgotten objects. She loves to "take a straight piece of wire and give it a wiggle, or a simple square of cloth and set it dancing in the wind." However, her talents are hidden as she spends her days making plain, brown shoes for the other townspeople who only want sensible things. When two traveling minstrels, Jack and the Dancing Cat, come into the woman's shop, they offer her dancing lessons in exchange for new boots. Moving her body to the "two-step," the "three-step," and the "tricky twisting backward-sliding four-step" makes Milli feel "brave and free" and gives her the courage to release her creativity. Soon she is making "curly-toed shoes covered in stars" and livening up the neighborhood with musical instruments that make "sounds that had never been heard before." King's sprightly ink-and-watercolor illustrations capture the magic of Milli's creations. A charming story that celebrates imagination and individuality.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
BookList Review
Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
PreS-K. Inventive Milli makes fantastic creations from the things that others throw away. She is too shy, though, to share her flights of fancy with her neighbors, choosing instead to run a dull shoe shop. Thenack, a traveling minstrel, comes to town with his feline partner, Cat, and their music, free-spirited dancing, and friendship help give Milli the confidence to follow her imagination and produce wonderful inventions forack, Cat, and eventually the whole town. The story's message to celebrate creativity and learn to be brave and free weighs too heavily, but the simple, playful sentences have a nice sense of sound and rhythm. It's the exuberant illustrations that are the biggest attraction. In scribbly ink lines and bright watercolor washes,ing shows the giddy joy of Milli,ack, and Cat as they practice their dance moves and enjoy Milli's extraordinary inventions, which are shown in irresistible detail. Like Simms Taback's oseph Had a Little Overcoat (2000),ing's story shows the fun of finding a new purpose for old things. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2004 Booklist