Finn and Puss
Robert Vescio, Author
Melissa Mackie, Illustrator
EK Books, Fiction, Oct. 1, 2017
Suitable for Ages: 3-6
Themes: Animals, Lost cat, Loneliness, Friendship, Hope, Integrity
Opening: “This is Finn. This is Puss”
Synopsis: Finn a young boy, is lonely. Puss, a cat, is lost. When the two meet on the street and Finn stoops down to scratch his ears, Finn isn’t lonely anymore. Puss purrs and seems happy to be with Finn. When Finn sees a “Lost” picture of Puss taped to a building by the cat’s owners, he’s faced with a tough decision. Will he do the right thing?
Why I like this book:
This is a sweet tale by Robert Vescio about a boy who finds a lost cat and makes a new friend. It explores the boy’s choices of ignoring the notice and keeping the cat, or doing the right thing and notifying the owner, who misses her cat. This is an important lesson children will face many times in their lives. It has difficult lessons about honesty and integrity. It is a good reason to start teaching this lesson to young children. There are heartwarming rewards when children learn to do the right thing.
Finn and Puss only has 80 words, so it is the perfect book for children learning to read independently on their own and for reluctant readers.
Melissa Mackie’s soft watercolor illustrations are expressive and really capture the dynamics of the story. I particularly like her use of white space because it symbolically sheds “light” on this story about building character.
Resources: This is an excellent discussion book for home and school. Ask children what they would do if were in Finn’s shoes? Would they want to keep the cat or return it to its sad owner. What would they do if found a toy that they knew belonged to a friend? What would they do if they saw a stranger drop money on the ground?
Robert Vescio is a full-time children’s author whose aim is to enthuse and inspire children to read and write and leave them bursting with imaginative ideas.
Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.
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