Kitten's First Full Moon

Have you ever wanted to reach out and touch the moon or stars? In Kitten's First Full Moon, a Caldecott Medal winner, by Kevin Henkes, a persistant little kitten tries to do just that.

     This picture book is about an inquisitive kitten's first experience seeing a full moon. The story opens with Kitten sitting on her front porch enjoying the night. Through a group of fluttering fireflies, she sees a purrfectly deliciousl bowl of milk hanging in the sky, and tries with all her kitten might to taste it, catch it, and drink it! Will this unlucky kitten ever get her little bowl of milk?

     The illustrations for this picture book contain no color, but instead use muted blacks and whites to envelope the reader in the story's own “colorful” nighttime atmosphere. The simple drawings also complimented the tenacious kitten's story well, with the moon always being just out of reach at the top corner of the book. Once the story is over it will leave you peering outside your window for a wayward kitten on her quest for a nighttime snack.

   

One unique way to utilize this story at home or in a classroom is as a way to introduce readers to the different phases of the moon and what objects each phase resembles to them. Readers could even write their own stories of what they think other animals do on nights with a full moon.

Kevin Henkes is an experienced children's book author, having published his first book at the age of 21. He now has over 30 books under his belt and several awards to boot. His inspiration for this story actually came from a line in a previous book idea that didn't make the cut. Lucky for us, Henkes expanded on this one line to create a wonderful story about Kitten's first full moon.


      Other wonderful stories by Kevin Henkes include the Mouse book series, Old Bear, and A Good Day.