(Caldecott Medal - Honors Winning Title(s)

3 to 7 years old
Caldecott Honor
2014

This book has no real words to it because it takes place almost entirely between a cat named Mr. Wuffles and a crew of tiny alien colonists that the cat is fascinated by. The aliens are shown speaking their native language, but as it is not English, we are left to interpret their actions through the illustrations. Luckily, the story is fairly linear and easy to follow, the aliens' ship is damaged by Mr. Wuffles, who believes that the ship, as with all of creation, is a cat toy. The aliens evade destruction by the comparatively enormous Mr. Wuffles, and join forces with the bugs that live in the household to formulate a plan to repair their ship and escape. The bugs share their food with the aliens, who then share their learning and technology with the bugs. The plan is put into action, and the combined forces of the aliens and the bugs manage to ensure the aliens' escape. The book closes on the ants in the walls, wearing clothes and using tools, creating cave drawings of their battle with the cat. I love the implication that aliens would arrive and endow a species with space-age knowledge and technology, but that the aliens would be so tiny the only species they could interact with would be bugs. Its a great twist on an old tale, and framing it as ostensibly a book about a cat's adventures makes everything inside all the more surprising. ( )

Great art, but I didn't really get the story. I'm not so into wordless picture books I guess. ( )

Creative story without words (there are symbols!) and imagination is required. ( )