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Why Do Kittens Purr?
Why do kittens purr?
Because they're happy,
deep inside their fur.
Lions roar in the dining room and frogs hop down the stairs as a child's curiosity leads to whimsical fun. Marion Dane Bauer and Henry Cole create an inviting child's-eye view of the world in their imaginative book.
Because they're happy,
deep inside their fur.
Lions roar in the dining room and frogs hop down the stairs as a child's curiosity leads to whimsical fun. Marion Dane Bauer and Henry Cole create an inviting child's-eye view of the world in their imaginative book.
32 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2003
About the author
Marion Dane Bauer
181 books185 followersMarion Dane Bauer is the author of more than one hundred books for young people, ranging from novelty and picture books through early readers, both fiction and nonfiction, books on writing, and middle-grade and young-adult novels. She has won numerous awards, including several Minnesota Book Awards, a Jane Addams Peace Association Award for RAIN OF FIRE, an American Library Association Newbery Honor Award for ON MY HONOR, a number of state children's choice awards and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota for the body of her work.
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
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INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
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Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
-------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
-------------------------------------
Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 8, 2019
The illustrations are beautiful and depict different animals with the boy asking why. . .? Most of the rhymes are just that rhymes with a few of them being actual answers to the child's questions. It's a cute book that I think would work for preschool story times and possibly toddler story times as well. Again, it's the case of pairing it with wiggle rhymes, songs, and shorter books so you can sneak a slightly longer book into your story time without losing the kiddos. ^_^
October 5, 2017
Cute but some of the animals looked really strange
December 13, 2016
This children's picture book consists of animals and the sounds and/or behaviors they have and why. The illustrations aren't that complex or detailed. However, they accurately represent animals in a way that children can easily recognize. The rhyme scheme is obvious but not over done. This really aids to the readability to the book.
Some criticism may be that the title of the book is misleading. The book is not just about cats, but about dogs, kangaroos, frogs, and other animals. The book ends with connections to the moon at night and the sun coming up. It may seem a bit random but it makes sense. The boy in the book is reading a book about mammals in his room at night.
Overall, I gave this book 4 stars because my niece loved it. She was always asking for me to read the book over and over to her. After the 5th read, she was repeating the text herself. It's a cute book about mammals. It could be taught in class to accompany real, in-depth descriptions of why animals make their sounds for.
Some criticism may be that the title of the book is misleading. The book is not just about cats, but about dogs, kangaroos, frogs, and other animals. The book ends with connections to the moon at night and the sun coming up. It may seem a bit random but it makes sense. The boy in the book is reading a book about mammals in his room at night.
Overall, I gave this book 4 stars because my niece loved it. She was always asking for me to read the book over and over to her. After the 5th read, she was repeating the text herself. It's a cute book about mammals. It could be taught in class to accompany real, in-depth descriptions of why animals make their sounds for.
September 22, 2010
I enjoy how the pictures form part of the little boy's surroundings...very imaginative. Though, I do wish the pictures were better drawn. It can open up dialogue about why animals and nature really do the things they do. I found myself commenting after each answer...um, no that's not really why, but when you're older we can actually discuss and find out why!
Overall, my son enjoys the pictures and, for now, that's what is important.
Overall, my son enjoys the pictures and, for now, that's what is important.
December 9, 2013
This book is not only about cats but many animals. Why do bees buzz or frogs hop? The book does not really answer the questions because it is geared for young children and is more of a fun adventure story than an informative story. It is up to the reader to explain to the child the answers of the many questions. Still the illustrations are wonderful and the book is amusing to read to your child.
October 15, 2008
I thought this would be all about kittens, so I was disappointed when I got past the first page. However, it was a very cute book about animals, their sounds, and rhyming. It also showed a lot of imagination since the animals were all in the boy's house.
October 28, 2010
I think this is a cute book. I like the illustration because it is simple, easy for children to see and enhances the silly parts of the book.
I enjoy the writing but the ending was strange for me.
My kids like this book so it is definitely worth a read through.
I enjoy the writing but the ending was strange for me.
My kids like this book so it is definitely worth a read through.
July 2, 2013
Simple poem about why animals do the things they do.
Humane-minded parents may cringe at the picture of the family cat nursing a litter in a cardboard box.
Humane-minded parents may cringe at the picture of the family cat nursing a litter in a cardboard box.
July 9, 2009
More rhymey-fun than fact-based, this book is nonetheless enjoyable as it touches on kittens purring, bees buzzing and the sun rising in the morning. Somehow soothing.
November 3, 2015
This was a lovely, little book not just about kittens as the title would suggest, but about other animals as well -- should appeal to any child.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews