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Christina Katerina
Christina Katerina & the Box
A huge cardboard box becomes a castle, a clubhouse, a racing car and more for Christina and her friend Fats. In it they swear undying friendship, wage furious battles
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
1 person is currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Lee Gauch
50 books9 followersPatricia Lee Gauch is an author who has written over 30 works of children's literature. In 1993, Gauch was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. She has been a resident of the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
September 26, 2021
Imagination and creativity bubble forth from Christina Katerina like an effervescent spring. Just when her mother thinks the box will be discarded and she will have her nice neat yard back, Christina finds yet another way to transform an ordinary refrigerator box into an exciting plaything. This delightful read stirred up memories from my own childhood of box houses, blanket forts, and big fun with immaterial things.
June 28, 2012
This was my all time, number one, absolute favorite book when I was a child. It's one of those things that has survived my many moves, and not on accident.
The illustrations are simple but absolutely beautiful and perfectly fitting with the theme of imagination. They're almost deceptively simple and I adored looking at them, trying to figure out how to imitate whatever was depicted.
Christina Katerina's imaginative play always inspired me to create my own fantastical tea party or castle or race track and I'm glad that I am able to share that love of pretend with my own kids. I read it to my twelve year old over and over when he was little and he still remembers it almost as fondly as I do. My daughter is one and while I'm not ready to share it with her because she's still chewing on everything, I can't wait 'till she's ready. Hmmm, I wonder if it's available as a board book...
The illustrations are simple but absolutely beautiful and perfectly fitting with the theme of imagination. They're almost deceptively simple and I adored looking at them, trying to figure out how to imitate whatever was depicted.
Christina Katerina's imaginative play always inspired me to create my own fantastical tea party or castle or race track and I'm glad that I am able to share that love of pretend with my own kids. I read it to my twelve year old over and over when he was little and he still remembers it almost as fondly as I do. My daughter is one and while I'm not ready to share it with her because she's still chewing on everything, I can't wait 'till she's ready. Hmmm, I wonder if it's available as a board book...
October 30, 2008
I loved this book when I was little and finally found it and read it here in Milwaukee at the public library. I am sure I hadn't read it in about 25 years. Christina Katerina's creative nature is inspiring, and from from 1971 no less! Here is a Caddie Woodlawn or Anne Shirley or Pippi Longstocking for the picture book set. (Or for me.) The personable, affecting illustrations bring the characters to life (of course Christina's friend's name is luckily named "Fats"), and Christina's lackadaisical perseverance shines through on every page.
January 13, 2010
Ohmygosh! I LOVED this book as a kid. It is so full of imagination and I, like Christina Katerina, really, REALLY loved to get an old box and make magic happen.
October 1, 2015
Nobody likes to be boxed in. But in Christina Katerina & The Box by Patricia Lee Gauch, a box becomes an invitation to rocket into the stratosphere of a child’s imagination. Although originally published in 1971, the story is fresh and timely. Christina Katerina, the heroine of the story is no shrinking violet awaiting a Prince Charming to save her. She’s a spunky and imaginative character who turns a lonely summer day into the beginning of a marvelous adventure.
Christina Katerina salvages an immense refrigerator box. Much to her mother’s chagrin, Christina parks it under the apple tree on her front lawn. Of course, this is no ordinary box. Through Christina’s eyes it transforms from one marvelous interpretation to another. With initial help from her dad and lots of her own effort she keeps reinventing the deteriorating box. She’s an optimistic, self-determined child who presents a marvelous model of resilience and for making one’s own fun.
Casey uses this book in her second grade classroom. It is so popular, she has to replace it periodically! Christina captivates her students and supercharges their own creative juices. Christina Katerina & The Box starstarstarstarstar
Christina Katerina salvages an immense refrigerator box. Much to her mother’s chagrin, Christina parks it under the apple tree on her front lawn. Of course, this is no ordinary box. Through Christina’s eyes it transforms from one marvelous interpretation to another. With initial help from her dad and lots of her own effort she keeps reinventing the deteriorating box. She’s an optimistic, self-determined child who presents a marvelous model of resilience and for making one’s own fun.
Casey uses this book in her second grade classroom. It is so popular, she has to replace it periodically! Christina captivates her students and supercharges their own creative juices. Christina Katerina & The Box starstarstarstarstar
July 27, 2014
I saved my childhood copy of this book so my own children could enjoy it. This book is so simple; the illustrations aren't even in color. But the incredible world of imagination that it inspired was like no other book for me as a kid. Christina's endless ideas of how to use large appliance boxes for her creative play were awe inspiring. I remember feeling disappointed that my parents never had to purchase new appliances so I could have a chance to imitate her fantastic ideas. The book subtly emphasizes Christina's resilience even when her neighbor, the bully Fats Watson, kept destroying her creations. She would simply come up with another outstanding idea and swiftly move on to invent it. Christina was imaginative and couldn't be kept down. This book sends a great message, and I think it should make a comeback to help get this "plugged in" generation outside using their imaginations on something not electronic.
February 10, 2014
You know how it is, buy a terrific toy for a child and they play with the box.
Christina Katerina has a box but it is not just any box, this box becomes all kinds of wonderful things for her, a house, a car, a boat. Christina Katerina is a sweet, daring and scruffy little girl who makes her adventures seem real. This one box provides countless hours of adventure.
The illustrations are so endearing and capture Christina Katerina's personality so well that you forget the pictures in the book are colored in only three colors.
And just when you think that box is destined for the trash can, Christina Katerina has another clever idea for it.
Christina Katerina has a box but it is not just any box, this box becomes all kinds of wonderful things for her, a house, a car, a boat. Christina Katerina is a sweet, daring and scruffy little girl who makes her adventures seem real. This one box provides countless hours of adventure.
The illustrations are so endearing and capture Christina Katerina's personality so well that you forget the pictures in the book are colored in only three colors.
And just when you think that box is destined for the trash can, Christina Katerina has another clever idea for it.
December 30, 2016
This is a charming story of an inquisitive little girl and what she does with a refrigerator box. Her mother wants to trash it but Christina wants to take it on an adventure. The little girl's imagination is wonderful.
The illustrations depict realistic encounters. The mother worrying, the neighbor boy misbehaving, and Christina having so much fun. I can't think of anyone who will read this story that won't have a smile on their face by the time it ends. I know we did.
The illustrations depict realistic encounters. The mother worrying, the neighbor boy misbehaving, and Christina having so much fun. I can't think of anyone who will read this story that won't have a smile on their face by the time it ends. I know we did.
May 1, 2009
This book was very influential on my childhood. It made me so excited for boxes. Really the possibilities are endless.
July 11, 2007
This was my all time absolute favorite book as a young girl. I was worried that since my son was a boy he wouldn't be as interested. After all, they say that girls easily relate to boy heros, but the other way around rarely works. Nevertheless, I kept my copy of the book, and it's been on his bookshelf. He's three now, and on a whim I pulled it out to read as the bedtime story a couple of weeks ago after I'd despaired of reading "Look and Find with Thomas the Train" for the thousanth time. Much to my surprise, my son LOVES it. He's slept with it under his pillow and asked me to read it at least a dozen times since. I'm so happy!
January 2, 2011
This book was one of my absolute favorite books when I was a little girl in elementary school. The story is about a little girl whose family gets a new refrigerator and the box is given to Christina Katerina to play with. The creative progression of everything the box is used for in imaginative play is impressive and so much fun until the eventual demise of the box into the dust it came from. More children should read this book and hopefully be inspired, like I was, to come up with amazingly fun and imaginative ways to play with simple things like big cardboard boxes. Still, one of my favorite children's picture books of all time.
August 19, 2009
Christina has just received a large box left over from a refridgertor that was just delivered to their house. Her imagination begins to spin and soon she is riding in race cars and living it up in castles right on her front lawn.
My husband remembers this as one of his favorite books as a child. We added this to our children's library and find that it's one of our favorite books to read. It's fun, not too long, and always seems to give my children lots of ideas for imaginary play and building.
My husband remembers this as one of his favorite books as a child. We added this to our children's library and find that it's one of our favorite books to read. It's fun, not too long, and always seems to give my children lots of ideas for imaginary play and building.
February 24, 2013
This was my absolute favorite book when I was little. I had forgotten the particulars, like who the author was and what the title of the book was, and I described it to my best friend.
She researched the book and bought it for me, without my knowledge. I haven't read it in 25-30 years and when she handed it to me it was as if THIS is what a mother should do for her child (BFF is my mother mentor). I cried when I read it again. I shall read it again and again. Always.
She researched the book and bought it for me, without my knowledge. I haven't read it in 25-30 years and when she handed it to me it was as if THIS is what a mother should do for her child (BFF is my mother mentor). I cried when I read it again. I shall read it again and again. Always.
January 3, 2015
I love this book! For as long as cardboard boxes exist this will be a timeless tale of childhood. What child doesn't love the magical thing that is a giant box? Or for that matter, who doesn't love them, no matter their age! The story is a wonderful cameo of life and follows the many imaginative reincarnation of a fridge box and the little girl who gives it life. It's wonderfully fun and full of great ideas that any kid will be excited to try with their own box.
May 21, 2012
When the delivery truck bring the large box containing the shiny new refrigerator Christina and her mother are both excited, just for very different reasons. The potential that lies in a box is something that all children see and love to explore. Sometimes more than the gift that came in the box. The simple 70's style illustrations make this a unique and just cool read.
September 5, 2014
This book is so much fun! Christina is a very imaginative girl and loves to play with her best friend. Her mother however would like to have her yard back! The illustrations are well done and capture the characters perfectly. I would use this story in class to teach about creativity and how something can have multiple uses.
February 28, 2015
This was my all-time, favorite, read-it-to-me-again-and-again book when I was little. I too liked playing in big cardboard boxes, and I wished I'd had Christina Katerina to play in them with me. As long as Fats didn't keep messing things up. lol
Funny, I had always thought her name was Christina Katrina.
Funny, I had always thought her name was Christina Katrina.
January 1, 2019
Adults need picture books too. Read this aloud to someone you love.
April 30, 2016
I do so love this book. My mum bought it for me when I was a kid because I loved all sorts of boxes; we got a stand-alone freezer at one point and I had that box for two weeks before I had to spend a weekend away and Mom accidentally left it out in the rain. So I totally identify with the magic of a giant box and all that it can be. I love Gauch's creativity with each new version of the box and the ways the mother character keeps getting overrun by Christina's newest iteration.
I'm not quite sure what to do with Fats as a character (and as a nickname), but I like that there is someone for Christina to interact with; it's a neat way to sneak in the values of friendship without bopping the reader on the head.
And the illustrations are lovely; their limited color palette works so well. Kudos all around--makes me want to find a box, though I definitely wouldn't be small enough to clamber around in it anymore, even the freezer-sized ones.
I'm not quite sure what to do with Fats as a character (and as a nickname), but I like that there is someone for Christina to interact with; it's a neat way to sneak in the values of friendship without bopping the reader on the head.
And the illustrations are lovely; their limited color palette works so well. Kudos all around--makes me want to find a box, though I definitely wouldn't be small enough to clamber around in it anymore, even the freezer-sized ones.
June 5, 2009
The info up top reads that this is from '98 but I had a much loved copy as a child that was used when I found it in the 70's. This was one of the staple reads of my early childhood that I never outgrew. I'm so delighted to have rediscovered it and just ordered a copy for my son at Barnes and Noble.com. I can hardly wait for it to arrive. The illustrations were the kind you dream over and never forget. I'm 39 and still remember the pictures, especially the chubby neighbor kid, named "Fats", eating fig newtons. I'm also glad to see that others on Goodreads liked it too. Even at B&N.com, the reviews are gushing, everyone says it was their favorite and how they reread it a thousand times. I'ts nice for kids as young as, say, 5ish on up. I'm still not over it.
February 20, 2016
This is one of those children's books that celebrates the boundless creativity of childhood. We can see our heroine Christina in any of the child's--and possibly our own--genuinely creative endeavors. For a child, this is just a fun story with absolutely brilliant illustrations, with characters that are recognizable and endearing. In this way, it well-enough fulfills its purpose. From a practical and creative-inspirational standpoint, it also provides a wealth of possibilities for the uses of an old cardboard box... If you should be so lucky as to have a big appliance box or something of the like, along with a child (about age 6 or 7 maybe) with whom you read, buy this book immediately and read it to her at bedtime, just before the dreams come.
October 31, 2008
Christina Katerina is the original craftster. She sees endless possibilities in a large box. I loved this book as a child, and the illustrations have a charming 60's flavor to them. The mom is very trim and tidy, and Christina Katerina is a fly-away hippie child. This book perfectly captures Christina's love of hoarding junk and creating her own world from it. Not to mention her "sometimes friend" who alternates between joining in the make-believe and spoiling it. This book is on my list of books to give to the girl-children in my life.
April 29, 2010
Christina Katerina has a big cardboard box to play with. She and her friend, Fats, use their imaginations to come up with all sorts of ways to play with it.
Potential Audience: Grades 1-4
Genre: Picture book, fiction
Curricular Use: Read-aloud, independent reading
Literary Elements: Dialogue, repetition
Social Issues: Imagination, make-believe, childhood, play, friendship (ups and downs)
Image: Black, white, and (cardboard) brown illustrations that support the text well and make this book even better! One of my favorites from childhood.
Potential Audience: Grades 1-4
Genre: Picture book, fiction
Curricular Use: Read-aloud, independent reading
Literary Elements: Dialogue, repetition
Social Issues: Imagination, make-believe, childhood, play, friendship (ups and downs)
Image: Black, white, and (cardboard) brown illustrations that support the text well and make this book even better! One of my favorites from childhood.
July 26, 2012
A girl whose imagination lets her turn an old refrigerator box into a castle, a clubhouse, a race car, and finally a ballroom dance floor before she finally allows her mother to haul it off. The illustrations fit the story and are very well-done. Published in 1971, before it was politically incorrect to call the antagonist "Fats," which is what her friend who plays with her is called. He is the one who hastens the demise of the box.
September 12, 2009
One of my favorite kid's books of all times! (Entering it here so I remember it for baby shower gifts in the future.) It's a great way to jump-start a kid's imagination, showing all the fun things you can do with a box.
May 3, 2016
Who didn't get to play in a ginormous box as a kid? If you didn't, this book will help you see what you were missing out on! I loved the story, and I loved the illustrations of the characters. Fun read.
February 4, 2022
A truly delightful book about imagination. This book is an absolute joy to read for any child or even any adult who remembers being a kid and having a "box adventure." Well-written text, with perfect pacing and humor. Charming illustrations.
5 stars
5 stars
March 8, 2010
A little girl uses a box to create various things. Very imaginative. Great book.
August 22, 2011
One of my favorite childhood books. LOVED the adventures Christina had with her box!
February 11, 2020
Pure nostalgia! One of my favorites as a child. Love the imagination--makes me want to speed up my larger refrigerator goal just so I can have the box. Absolutely fun read-aloud!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews