SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Library Fish
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.alyssacapucilli.com/
CITY: Hastings on Hudson
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 360
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born November 2, 1957, in Brooklyn, NY; married Bill Capucilli; children: Peter, Laura.
EDUCATION:Sarah Lawrence College, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Dancer, teacher, and author. Has taught writing at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, and for Highlights Foundation; Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, New York, NY, lecturer. Former professional dancer and dance instructor.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Authors Guild, Authors League.
AWARDS:American Booksellers Association Pick of the Lists designation, 1994, for Good Morning, Pond, 1996, for Biscuit, and 1997, for Bathtime for Biscuit; Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, 2002, for Biscuit’s New Trick, and 2004, for both Only My Dad and Me and Biscuit’s Big Friend; Washington Irving Children’s Book Choice Award, 2004, for Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats; Garden State Book Award, 2005, for Biscuit Goes to School; honors from American Literacy Council, Bank Street College of Education, and American Library Association.
WRITINGS
Author’s books have been translated into Afrikaans, Bulgarian, French, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
The “Biscuit” series was adapted for the stage by ArtsPower as Biscuit the Musical, with a national tour debuting in 2017.
SIDELIGHTS
Alyssa Satin Capucilli’s stories for young audiences include her popular series of beginning readers starring a rambunctious golden-haired puppy named Biscuit. Capucill’s other creations include lift-the-flap books for toddlers that feature gentle, lovable characters and easily identifiable objects as well as beginning readers cited for their child-friendly narratives and repetitive vocabularies.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957, Capucilli developed an early love of books and weekly trips to the library with her mother and sisters. “I could hardly wait to choose a special book from all of the books that lined the shelves,” she once recalled to SATA. “As a matter of fact, my sisters and I would often play library at home! We would take turns pretending to be the librarian, and we would recommend books to each other, check them out, and tell each other to ‘SSSSHHH!’” Among Capucilli’s favorite authors were Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, and Beverly Cleary, whose stories about Henry and his dog, Ribsy, she loved.
Although she wrote stories, poems, and puppet shows, Capucilli never took her writing seriously until many years later. In the meantime, she focused on her love of dance, a way of “telling stories in another way.” She became a professional dancer and soon was teaching as well as performing on stage. While reading to her own two children, Capucilli’s love affair with children’s books was rekindled, and she began to split her time between work as a dance instructor and performer and work as a writer. As she stated on her website, “I still love to dance, but now I find that I enjoy inventing worlds through words even more.”
Capucilli’s first published book, Peekaboo Bunny, is a lift-the-flap story that saw print in 1994. Illustrated by Mary Melcher, the book helps small children navigate in a garden, and it was popular enough to prompt a sequel, Peekaboo Bunny Friends in the Snow. The connection between objects and sounds has inspired several of Capucilli’s other books, including Good Morning, Pond, which uses repetition and rhythm to teach the names of pond-dwelling creatures. Another work, Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-Along Story, encourages young listeners to mimic barnyard noises by using puzzles mixing letters and pictures, and it prompted Booklist reviewer Stephanie Zvirin to praise this book’s text as “part poetry, part puzzle game, and part tool for learning the sounds animals make.”
Capucilli’s Biscuit books feature unthreatening, toddler-type adventures and the canine-centered tales are illustrated by Pat Schories. A soft-eared and lovable puppy with golden-brown fur, Biscuit bounds into the life of a young girl and quickly becomes her best friend. From wanting a small snack before bedtime to being tucked in snugly under layers of blankets, the activities of girl and puppy play out in “oodles of contextual clues,” easy-to-read sentences, and “repetitive word and phrases,” according to School Library Journal reviewer Gale W. Sherman.
Novice readers can follow Biscuit’s exploits in numerous stories. In Bathtime for Biscuit the task of getting the pup into warm water is made easier through a variety of antics, and Capucilli tells her story in a way that “makes this a good choice for the youngest readers and listeners alike,” in the opinion of School Library Journal contributor Sharon R. Pearce. The pup celebrates his first birthday with friends in Happy Birthday, Biscuit!, a book that will appeal to “librarians who find it difficult to sustain a squirmy toddler’s interest,” predicted Lauren Peterson in Booklist.
Biscuit’s Valentine’s Day, a lift-the-flap book, describes the pup’s busy day chewing on ribbon and playing with balloons. Youngsters “will enjoy the simple action,” predicted Booklist critic Ilene Cooper. In Happy Hanukkah, Biscuit, another lift-the-flap holiday book, the pup attends a Hanukkah celebration where the spinning of the dreidel leads to all sorts of mischief. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews deemed the work “a pleasant addition to the Biscuit canon.”
The playful pup follows his friend to school and tackles the ABCs in Biscuit Goes to School, a story “that will capture the attention of the newest reader,” in the view of Cooper in Booklist. Capucilli’s “hallmark combination of questions and statements, … executed in the most basic language,” is both “familiar and encouraging” to children, remarked a Kirkus Reviews critic. In Biscuit in the Garden the energetic and curious pooch discovers the wonders of nature, from a butterfly to a bird, during an outing with his owner. “The simplicity of the story makes it work, as it has since the beginning of the series,” noted another Kirkus Reviews writer.
Capucilli introduces a character who shares her love of dance in Katy Duck, the first book in another child-friendly series. Illustrated by Henry Cole, Katy Duck centers on a duckling that enjoys twirling and spinning about the house but finds herself overwhelmed once her mother enrolls her in Mr. Tutu’s dance class. According to School Library Journal critic G. Alyssa Parkinson, young readers will identify with the protagonist’s “initial fears of performing in front of a group.” In Katy Duck, Center State the plucky heroine experiences a moment of stage fright during a recital, and Katy Duck Is a Caterpillar finds Katy determined to land a starring role in the spring pageant. Capucilli’s “clear words … will easily appeal to young children,” Hazel Rochman stated in her Booklist review of Katy Duck Is a Caterpillar.
In Katy Duck’s Happy Halloween the duckling worries that her unicorn costume will be overshadowed by her friend’s dazzling mermaid outfit, while Katy Duck and the Tip-Top Tap Shoes shares an energetic tale in which the duckling’s new friend introduces her to a new style of dance. “Beginning readers will find reassurance in this easy-to-decipher story,” wrote School Library Journal contributor Gloria Koster in appraising Katy Duck’s Happy Halloween, and Mary Hazelton wrote in the same periodical that “the vocabulary [in Katy Duck and the Tip-Top Tap Shoes ] is repetitive and easy to sound out, providing good practice for building fluency.”
(open new)Launched in 2011, Capucilli’s “My First” series features children having new experiences. Early installments in the series include My First Ballet Class, My First Soccer Game, and My First Gymnastics Class. In a 2020 volume called My First Kitten, a rhyming text finds a narrator meeting their new kitten, playing with it, and caring for it. The volume features photographs of real cats, as well as real kids with their feline pets. A Kirkus Reviews critic suggested that the book offered “good advice and good reading practice rolled into one.”
In 2022, Capucilli began another series, “The Library Fish.” Featuring illustrations by Gladys Jose, the series began with a book of the same title. In The Library Fish, readers meet Mr. Hughes, a librarian, who finds a goldfish on the doorstep of the library where he works. He brings the goldfish inside and sets her bowl in the counter. The Library Fish observes the people visiting the library and loves to imagine herself in the tales she hears during story time. She even accompanies Mr. Hughes on his outings in the bookmobile truck. One day, a snow storm rolls in, and the library remains closed due to the weather. Library Fish decides to have an adventure, eventually presenting her own story time with the bookmobile truck as her audience. Alyssa Annico, reviewer in School Library Journal, described Library Fish as “lovable” and asserted: “As worthy of praise as the public libraries (and bookmobiles) she adores, this [book] will find a home in every collection.”(close new—more below)
Apart from her series books, Capucilli is known for featuring genial, engaging creatures in her stand-alone stories. In What Kind of Kiss? a bear cub seeks the answer to his questions about smooching, and Booklist reviewer Connie Fletcher called this story “a satisfying snuggle of a book.” Only My Dad and Me describes the outdoor adventures of a young rabbit and his father. According to School Library Journal contributor Leslie Barban, “children will delight in discovering what the cozy twosome” have planned.
Furry felines are the subject of Capucilli’s popular books Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats and Little Spotted Cat. In the former, Mrs. McTats lives happily with her gray cat Abner, but when stray cats Basil and Curly come a’scratching at her door, she invites the two felines to stay. More and more cats now start arriving, in alphabetical order, until Mrs. McTats’s house is filled to bursting. Even with twenty-five cats, the woman feels that something is missing, until a puppy named Zoom shows up to balance the scales. In Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats, Capucilli creates “a picture of cozy domesticity while incorporating a subtle lesson in letters and numbers,” observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer.
A kitten refuses his mother’s call to take a nap in Little Spotted Cat. Tangling with yarn and hopping along behind a grasshopper prove far more appealing to the little cat, which prefers plants obeying his mother. According to New York Times Book Review contributor Jessica Bruder, Capucilli “peppers the text with appealing sounds, like the ‘slip-slap-SPLASH!’ of a tumbling water bowl.” Also reviewing Little Spotted Cat, Booklist critic Jennifer Mattson predicted that young readers of Capucilli’s tale will “recognize … their own reluctance to miss out on fun” in the world around them.
The bond between humans and animals is the focus of several of Capucilli’s stories. In Pedro’s Burro a boy and his father have difficulty choosing the right burro to help with their chores until they spy a playful creature sporting a jaunty hat. In School Library Journal Barbara Katz complimented the “repetition and humor” in the author’s story here, and a Kirkus Reviews critic described Pedro’s Burro as “expert fare for individual reading.”
The author goes to the dogs in Tulip Loves Rex, focusing on the relationship between an energetic girl and a fluffy homeless dog that shares her love of dancing. According to Maryann F. Owen in her review of Tulip Loves Rex in School Library Journal, young readers “will enjoy … seeing how Tulip’s talents lead her to a kindred spirit.” In a second book, Tulip and Rex Write a Story, Tulip and Rex take their new notebook and leash—presents from Grandma—to the park, drawing words from their spontaneous actions along the way and then using them to write a story. Suggesting that children may be inspired to go on word walks of their own, a Kirkus Reviews writer concluded, “This sweet story makes a good springboard for vocabulary-enrichment activities in and out of the classroom.”
Working with illustrator Lorna Hussey, Capucilli wrote Not This Bear along with This Bear’s Birthday. In Not This Bear, a little cub resists invitations to have fun at preschool because nothing is quite what he is accustomed to, but eventually he is able to loosen up and enjoy the present moment with some new friends. Rachell Anne Mencke, writing in School Library Journal, found that the book offers “a just-right blend of repetition and gentle humor to comfort reluctant new preschoolers.” In This Bear’s Birthday, the little cub helps prepare for his birthday party—and cleverly figures out what to do when wind-blown leaves threaten chaos. A Kirkus Reviews writer concluded, “Bear’s confident, lovable approach to life will serve little ones well.”
Capucilli’s stories with warm and sentimental messages include I Will Love You, in which a mother draws on nature metaphors to assure her daughter about the extent of her love. A Kirkus Reviews writer called the text “poetic” if “syrupy-sweet.” Amina Chaudhri, in School Library Journal, appreciated illustrator Lisa Anchin’s depiction of an apparently interracial family and called I Will Love You a “tender paean” that “will be much appreciated by women who see their own adoration reflected in the words.”
Blanket of Love depicts all the aspects of nature in which kids can feel wrapped up like a blanket—including sand, sea, wind, sunshine, and moonlight. A Kirkus Reviews writer praised the “soothing rhyming text” and said of young readers, “the gentle and tender words … will indeed wrap blankets of love around them.”
Capucilli’s Good Night, My Darling Baby is part of the “New Books for Newborns” series of lullabies, which feature gentle rhymes and soothing artwork appropriate for very young audiences. Illustrated by Annie Bach, Good Night, My Darling Baby depicts a host of farm animals, including sheep, horses, and ducks, preparing their offspring for a night’s sleep. “The repeating language creates a lulling mood … as does the moody, muted palette of Bach’s tenderly illustrated scenes,” a critic noted in Publishers Weekly, and a Kirkus Reviews writer deemed the volume “an excellent bedtime storybook.”
Hush a Bye, Baby focuses on the relationship between fathers and their children, highlighting how “affectionate” the parents can be as they get their infants ready for bed, according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. “The text is for the most part simple and uses familiar vocabulary,” the critic added. Hand in Hand, a third series title by Capucilli, follows a young girl and her mother as they enjoy a stroll through the park and a series of games at the playground. A contributor in Kirkus Reviews applauded the “lovely, rhythmic text” and described Hand in Hand as “a lyrical celebration of an ordinary outing and the bonds between loving adult and child.”
Capucilli provides an interesting twist on the classic tale Stone Soup in Bone Soup: A Spooky, Tasty Tale, colorfully illustrated by Tom Knight. Realizing their cupboard is bare on Halloween, a trio of witches go door-to-door gathering ingredients for a tasty concoction, securing colored flies from a goblin, dried dragon wings from a bat, and sludge from a mummy. “Capucilli’s wordplay here is a delight,” observed a Kirkus Reviews critic, and a Publishers Weekly reviewer similarly noted that the author “deserves kudos for employing plenty of tasty vocabulary.”
Mighty Tug, illustrated by David Mottram, is about a little tug boat who graciously helps all those who enter her harbor, who are gracious to her in return. A Publishers Weekly reviewer appreciated the narrative’s “crowd-pleasing sound effects” and concluded that “it’s refreshing to encounter a small-in-stature character who never doubts herself.”
(open new)Capucilli collaborated with illustrator Rotem Teplow on the 2021 volume, And a Cat from Carmel Market. Set in Tel Aviv, Israel, the volume finds a grandmother, Bubbe, going to the titular market to buy good to serve for Shabbat. As she buys challah, chicken, potatoes, carrots, noodles, and a tablecloth, a growing number of cats begin following her. At home, Bubbe cooks, and her family arrives. The cats settle on laps and in all corners of the house as the family begins eating. A Kirkus Reviews critic described the book as “a sweet depiction of the traditions of the Jewish weekly observance.” (close new)
Reflecting on her career, Capucilli once remarked, “One of the most unexpected and gratifying things about writing is that so many children have learned to read and equally important, learned to love to read through my characters and stories.
“It’s wonderful to see children use my books as springboards for their own writing as well. Whether it’s telling their own original story of Biscuit or Katy Duck, or creating a word walk as my characters Tulip and Rex do, or creating a first nonfiction ‘How-To’ book from my own ‘My First’ books, I love seeing how reading inspires young writers and illustrators to create.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 15, 1995, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-Along Story, p. 935; August, 1996, Ilene Cooper, review of Biscuit, p. 1910; May 1, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of Biscuit Finds a Friend, p. 1503; June 1, 1999, Lauren Peterson, review of Happy Birthday, Biscuit!, p. 1838; December 15, 2000, Carolyn Phelan, review of Inside a Zoo in the City: A Rebus Read-Along Story, p. 824; February 15, 2001, Ilene Cooper, review of Biscuit’s Valentine’s Day, p. 1139; September 1, 2001, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats, p. 113; November 1, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of Biscuit Wants to Play, pp. 485-486; April 1, 2002, Connie Fletcher, review of What Kind of Kiss?, pp. 1331-1332; August, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Biscuit Goes to School, p. 1969; July, 2003, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Biscuit’s Big Friend, p. 1899; March 15, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Little Spotted Cat, p. 1298; December 1, 2008, Hazel Rochman, review of Katy Duck Is a Caterpillar, p. 58; December 15, 2010, Carolyn Phelan, review of Scat, Cat!, p. 59; May 1, 2013, Ann Kelley, review of Biscuit in the Garden, p. 90; January 1, 2014, Edie Ching, review of Tulip Loves Rex, p. 122; January 1, 2017, Amina Chaudhri, review of I Will Love You, p. 100.
Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2001, review of What Kind of Kiss?, p. 1610; June 15, 2002, review of Biscuit Goes to School, p. 877; November 1, 2002, review of Happy Hanukkah, Biscuit!, p. 1616; March 15, 2005, review of Little Spotted Cat, p. 248; November 15, 2007, review of Pedro’s Burro; July 1, 2008, review of Katy Duck, Center Stage; November 15, 2008, review of Panda Kisses; July 1, 2012, review of Monkey Play; March 15, 2013, review of Biscuit in the Garden; November 1, 2013, review of Tulip Loves Rex; June 1, 2015, review of Not This Bear; June 15, 2015, review of Tulip and Rex Write a Story; April 1, 2017, review of I Will Love You; April 15, 2017, review of This Bear’s Birthday; July 1, 2017, reviews of Blanket of Love and Good Night, My Darling Baby; January 1, 2018, review of Hush a Bye, Baby; August 1, 2018, review of Bone Soup: A Spooky, Tasty Tale; January 15, 2020, review of Hand in Hand; November 1, 2020, review of My First Kitten; March 1, 2021, review of And a Cat from Carmel Market.
Publishers Weekly, March 27, 1995, review of Inside a Barn in the Country, p. 84; May 28, 2001, review of Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats, p. 87; September 22, 2003, review of The Brightest Star, p. 69; November 4, 2013, review of Tulip Loves Rex, p. 65; January 30, 2017, review of Good Night, My Darling Baby, p. 202; November 6, 2017, review of Mighty Tug, p. 81; July 2, 2018, review of Bone Soup, p. 66.
School Library Journal, July, 1996, Gale W. Sherman, review of Biscuit, p. 57; October, 1998, Sharon R. Pearce, review of Bathtime for Biscuit, p. 87; June, 2000, Janie Schomberg, review of Biscuit’s New Trick: A Scratch-and-Sniff Book, p. 102; September, 2000, Jane Marino, reviews of The Potty Book for Girls and The Potty Book for Boys, both p. 186; August, 2001, Caroline Ward, review of Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats, p. 144; December, 2001, Karen J. Tannenbaum, review of What Kind of Kiss?, pp. 91-92; May, 2002, Shauna Yusko, review of Bathtime for Biscuit, p. 7; October, 2002, Ilene Abramson, review of Happy Hanukkah, Biscuit!, p. 58; May, 2003, Leslie Barban, review of Only My Dad and Me, p. 109; October, 2003, Susan Patron, review of The Brightest Star, p. 61; June, 2005, Blair Christolon, review of Little Spotted Cat, p. 106; July, 2007, G. Alyssa Parkinson, review of Katy Duck, p. 73; November, 2007, Barbara Katz, review of Pedro’s Burro, p. 87; February, 2009, Martha Simpson, review of Katy Duck Is a Caterpillar, p. 179; October, 2010, Kelly Roth, review of Scat, Cat!, p. 81; July, 2011, Carol Schene, review of My First Ballet Class, p. 82; December, 2011, Blair Christolon, review of My First Soccer Game, p. 98; May, 2012, review of My First Karate Class, p. 86; May, 2013, Mary Hazelton, review of Katy Duck and the Tip-Top Tap Shoes, p. 68; December, 2013, Maryann H. Owen, review of Tulip Loves Rex, p. 89; December, 2014, Gloria Koster, review of Katy Duck’s Happy Halloween, p. 98; August, 2015, Rachell Anne Mencke, review of Not This Bear, p. 57; April, 2017, Barbara Spiri, review of Biscuit Flies a Kite, p. 135; December, 2017, Barbara Auerbach, review of Mighty Tug, p. 83; January, 2018, Mahnaz Dar, review of Hush a Bye, Baby, p. 49; December, 2021, Alyssa Annico, review of The Library Fish, p. 73.
ONLINE
Alyssa Satin Capucilli website, https://alyssacapucilli.com (April 26, 2022).
Reading, writing, and imagining are some of my most favorite things to do. I hope a visit to my website will inspire you to do the same! There’s lots to discover and explore with characters and friends that are old and new. And, be sure to check back often; I’m so happy you stopped by!
Alyssa Satin Capucilli is the author of the popular books about the little yellow puppy named Biscuit. She lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
QUOTED: "lovable"
"As worthy of praise as the public libraries (and bookmobiles) she adores, this will find a home in every collection."
CAPUCILLI, Alyssa Satin. The Library Fish. illus. by Gladys Jose. 32p. S. & S./Paula Wiseman. Mar. 2022. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781534477056.
PreS-Gr 3--When a goldfish in a bowl mysteriously appears on the library doorstep (the mystery will be clear to readers), the librarian, Mr. Hughes, calls her Library Fish. From then on the sweet little fish takes an interest in library happenings, keeping an eye on the comings and goings at the circulation counter and listening in on story time. Through these stories, Library Fish imagines herself going on all kinds of wonderful adventures, far beyond her outings in the bookmobile. When a snow storm closes the library for the day, and even Mr. Hughes fails to appear, Library Fish must seek out new stories on her own. With her head protected inside her own water bubble, like a diving helmet in reverse, she can safely explore the world outside of her bowl. This is Library Fish's moment to shine as she puts on her own special story time, reading dramatically to the bookmobile truck outside, who happens to love new stories just as much as she does. The illustrations are both cozy and amusing. They immediately bring to mind the sights, smells, and sounds of a public library visit. Seeing Library Fish use her fins as little legs or imagining the bookmobile exploring the ocean floor are sure to prompt a chuckle. Mr. Hughes is brown, Library Fish is a coppery orange, and the rest of the patrons are wonderfully diverse in dress, skin color, ability. Their equally diverse reading preferences showcase the fabulous potential and scope of community library offerings. VERDICT A story of a lovable and adventurous library goldfish which is as worthy of praise as the public libraries (and bookmobiles) she adores, this will find a home in every collection.--Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State Univ., OH
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Annico, Alyssa. "CAPUCILLI, Alyssa Satin. The Library Fish." School Library Journal, vol. 67, no. 12, Dec. 2021, p. 73. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686052235/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=65d842c7. Accessed 31 Mar. 2022.
QUOTED: "good advice and good reading practice rolled into one."
Capucilli, Alyssa Satin MY FIRST KITTEN Simon Spotlight (Children's None) $17.99 12, 8 ISBN: 978-1-5344-7754-4
Kitten care presented early-reader style.
“Something soft and furry / Is coming home with me. // It is my new kitten. / She is as sweet as can be!” First-person, easy-reading text describes meeting the kitten, feeding the kitten, playing with the kitten, then taking it to the vet and keeping it safe. The first half of this volume is presented in rhyme with Wachter's photos of real children of various races and their kittens (always the same kitten-and-child pairings) imposed on simple cartoon backgrounds. On other pages, photos of kittens (all cute as the dickens) leaping, scratching, running, and sleeping appear against similar backgrounds. The second half reiterates the same information but in more detail. It passes on instructions in simple language for tasks like introducing a kitten to its litter box and interpreting the sounds and body language of your new furry friend. Jumping the species barrier, Biscuit creator Capucilli does a fine job of instructing young, new pet owners in the care of their wee feline friends in this companion to My First Puppy (2019). This helpful guidebook ends with a message encouraging aspiring young pet friends to adopt from shelters. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-12-inch double-page spreads viewed at 85.7% of actual size.)
Good advice and good reading practice rolled into one. (Early reader. 5-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Capucilli, Alyssa Satin: MY FIRST KITTEN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639818753/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=18a08f8b. Accessed 31 Mar. 2022.
QUOTED: "a sweet depiction of the traditions of the Jewish weekly observance."
Capucilli, Alyssa Satin AND A CAT FROM CARMEL MARKET Kar-Ben (Children's None) $17.99 4, 1 ISBN: 978-1-5415-8670-3
In Tel Aviv, Bubbe gets ready for Shabbat by visiting Carmel Market, where she is followed by a variety of interested felines.
With her shopping cart and list, Bubbe visits each stall and buys what is necessary to prepare a proper Shabbat dinner. Only the right challah, candles, tablecloth, chicken and noodles for soup will do. But Bubbe does not notice the cats trailing her, the bouncy verse in each spread ending with the same refrain as they accumulate: “Bubbe walked from stall to stall. / ‘These noodles are best of all. / Potatoes for kugel, carrots, and squash!’ / …and a cat from Carmel Market!” Soon a group of strays surrounds her, and by the time she arrives home they are in her cart, around her legs, and even atop her head. No matter. Bubbe cooks, seasons, tastes until it all comes together and family gathers around her beautifully set table. Then, a chorus of yowling: “ ‘Where is it coming from?’ they all wanted to know. / …from the cats of Carmel Market!” Finally aware of all her kitty guests, Bubbe “[lights] the candles, and what a surprise! / All the cats settled down before her eyes.” Cats curled on several laps, everyone is now ready for a “Shabbat shalom.” The rhyming text with its recurring refrain is augmented by delicate, detailed drawings in soft hues featuring a snow-white–haired, rounded, White grandmother, diverse secondary characters, and a clutter of friendly cats. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.6-by-17.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 50% of actual size.)
A sweet depiction of the traditions of the Jewish weekly observance. (glossary) (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Capucilli, Alyssa Satin: AND A CAT FROM CARMEL MARKET." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A653125528/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c21d6edc. Accessed 31 Mar. 2022.