Up Cat Down Cat

Toddler-PreS–Light (Black Bird Yellow Sun) has delivered another gem. This work explores the world of opposites through the lives of two cats. Simple text—one word on each page—allows for the illustrations to tell the true story. A blue mouse entertains two cats, one black and the other white. However, that is just the beginning of the concept exploration as the story goes on to show long and short, as one cat lays stretched out and the other curled in a ball. The story goes on to show lost vs. found as one cat is hiding and the other is not; straight vs. curvy with respect to the cats’ tails; wet vs. dry in the bathtub, until it ends with the cats awake and asleep. This is a nuanced look at opposites, as it explores more challenging ideas than just up and down or black and white. The use of ink drawings that are simplistic yet colorful enhance the story by allowing for the concept to be easily recognizable to young readers but also allowing for further explanation for older children.