131 - Comet's Nine Lives; Jan Brett

 

Comet's Nine Lives is a preschool book that is absolutely adorable, but it deals with a cat who gets himself into a variety of predicaments and uses up (8) of his (9) lives.  I can see where some parents might be cautious about reading or explaining such a book to young children, and a few reviews indicated the subject matter was not appropriate for young children. In my opinion is, the story is just fine. It just takes a little explaining, as you would do if you were to read Hansel and Gretal or Little Red Riding Hood to a young child. 

Comet is a cat who was born 30 miles out to sea on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. He never really had a home of his own, and wandered here and there.  He lost his first life when he ate some foxglove flowers that made him sick. His second life was lost in a book store --who would have thought they were dangerous? However, while resting on a stack of books, he took a tumble and all the books landed on his head.  He even lost one of his lives by taking a tumble into a strawberry milkshake --what a way to go!  Fortunately, as you can tell while reading along, Comet does find the perfect place to settle down in the end.

My Opinion -- I loved this book. It is such a cute story, and the beautiful, colorful illustrations of Nantucket Island are just awesome. The book is both written and illustrated by Jan Brett.  It is really a sweet story about a cat's adventures. It will have you and your little one anxiously turning the pages to see what kind of mischief Comet gets himself into next.

Highly Recommended - 5/5 stars - Library Book