Caldecott Medal Winner #3 / Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten's First Full Moon, written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes, is a well-deserved Caldecott Medal Winner. This children's book is written with the very young child in mind; it discusses the world of curiosity and how many times, this curiosity can be quite disasterous. Tackling curiosity makes perfect sense for a children's book written for this age level because the entire world is a world of curiosity for children of a pre-kindergarten age. In Henkes story, a small kitten sees her first moon and is convinced that it is a giant bowl of milk in the sky. The kitten struggles to reach the moon, and then, she sees the moon's reflection in a pool of water and dives right in. The "soaked" kitten struggles back home only to find a bowl of milk on the front porch. While in this case, the curiosity did not "kill the cat," it most certainly made her a little wet behind the ears.

The images in Kitten's First Full Moon were initially not impressive to me. I thought to myself, "This book won a Caldecott Medal!?!" But then, I looked again. When I gave the book a second glance, I saw something more than I saw the first time. I saw wondrous black and white images, tones of grey, and a quiet subtlety that has not existed in my other Caldecott Medal Winner selections. At first, I was looking at what was not there that was in my other selections, but as I said, with my second glance, I noticed what this book offered that the others did not. In fact, Kitten's First Full Moon tells such a complete story visually that the words are almost unnecessary.

I must admit, I chose this book at first because I love cats. From that initial choice, I connected with Kitten's First Full Moon on more levels than just that first one. I grew to love its imagery; I fell in love with the protagonist; I laughed when I saw the kitten jump into the pool of water; I smiled when she finally got to enjoy her bowl of milk. I would definitely recommend this selection for young children and for parents who are "itching" to have that conversation about curiosity with their children.

Kevin Henkes has written thirty-three other books for children, including the bestseller Wemberly Worried and the Caldecott Honor Book Owen (Henkes, 2004).

Nate Smith


Resource:

Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten's first full moon. New York: Greenwillow Books.