Tag Archives: graphic novel

Cat and Cat Adventures: The Quest for Snacks

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img_1413Book: Cat & Cat Adventures: The Quest for Snacks by Susie Yi

Date Read: October 8, 2021

Rating: 5 (of 5) stars

A few months back, I might have gushed a bit when reviewing this cute collection of cat comics from one of my favorite online artists. Well, that was only the beginning. Less than a year later, the same artist and storyteller has released the first book in a series of graphic novels for children—Cat and Cat Adventures! I am a long time follower of Cat and Cat Comics, and was super excited to receive my copy of this book. Although the story feels separate from the comic world Yi has created online, it features two of the cat characters that readers will easily fall in love with.

Squash and Ginny are not ordinary cats, but they are on a mission that will feel familiar to any cat owner—a mission to eat all the snacks! I feel this is especially true for my two troublemakers, who have become extremely skilled at finding snacks despite my efforts to cat proof the kitchen. There is a panel in the novel of the cats magicking snacks from a cupboard that I am pretty sure is based on actual events in my house. When the cats run out of snacks at home, their quest takes them on a journey through fantastical lands where they meet some new friends and learn a couple lessons along the way.

There are so many things that I loved about this book. As a fan of the online comics, I loved that Yi was able to stay true to the style from that work, but also expanded it with details and framing to fit the novel format. There were some great scenes throughout the book, and the balance of illustrations, text, and dialogue worked nicely. The story was creative—it did not exactly follow the path expected, but still turned out with a happy ending.

Although not completely new to graphic novels, I am gaining a greater appreciation of them recently. I love that they can be used to tell a story in so many different ways through the combination of elements. I think it’s time to break away from the idea that books with pictures in them are only for kids. While this does make graphic novels a great accessible option for beginning readers, I think they are fun for all levels of readers!

Boris’s Thoughts: “Fun I suppose, but I was hoping this was going to be more instructional where it came to actually obtaining the snacks. 3 paws.”

Christmas Cheer and Disney Cinestory Comics

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My family’s Christmas gathering is a pretty big deal for us: although each family has always spent Christmas day on their own, we kick off the holiday with a Christmas Eve gathering of around 35 to 40 people spanning four generations. We have dinner, share drinks, exchange gifts, and always have a visit from Santa, who pulls out a guitar and leads a few Christmas carols. There are usually a few games of euchre, and the night often ends with a Christmas movie on as people begin to go their separate ways. As the family has grown, we have had some evolving rules around gift giving. Adults have always drawn names to exchange, and with a growing number of young kids there is a newer tradition of kids drawing names and buying for each other. Some of the adults—those without young kids of their own—still opt to buy for all the young ones. Several years ago, I started the tradition of buying books.

One of my favorite things leading up to the holidays is picking out books for each kid. When they were younger, it was easy to find fun picture books. Now, with a few getting older and becoming readers in their own right, I have tried to get a little creative. Being in schools, I do read a fair amount of children’s and young adult literature, but it’s not always easy to find the perfect match for each kid. I usually end up with a mix of new books and ones that I have read. Although I know my Christmas is going to look different this year, I still picked out books for all the kids, and decided to use the blog to share some of my finds.

img_6658Book: Cinestory Comics by Disney

Pictured: Big Hero 6, Coco, Inside Out

My first discovery of the holiday season was these Disney graphic novels. Disney has always been popular in my family, so these caught my attention right away. I found these in a box set for a pretty reasonable price considering it comes with four books. There were a few options of sets available, including princesses and blockbusters—I liked the variety in this particular set and thought it was a good fit for some of the older kids (around age 9).

Since the kids all read a fair amount, I am always trying to find the balance between something popular that will interest them, but not something so popular they will likely have already read or seen it through school. Graphic novels have been gaining popularity for some time, and I thought these were a fun addition in that format. These are especially cool because they are not simply comics telling the story of the movie—the comics are created from still shots from the movies. I am especially excited about the Big Hero 6 book, which I think is going to be perfect for my cousin’s son who can be picky about his reading, and tends to be more into video games lately.

Minka’s Thoughts: “Does being in my bed make these bedtime stories?”