Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

Wardlaw (101 Ways to Bug Your Parents) has a fine understanding of the feline mind, and each 17-syllable poem packs a big impactespecially in the first section, which imagines the emotional life of a cat in a shelter. "Visiting hours!/ Yawn. I pretend not to care./ YetI sneak a peek." Warily, Won Ton considers the boy who is his new owner"Won Ton? How can I/ be soup? Some day, I'll tell you/ my real name. Maybe." In the final pages, boy and cat grow to trust each other, and Won Ton reveals his real name: "Boy, it's time you knew: / My name is Haiku." Yelchin's (Seven Hungry Babies) sleek cat is all eyes and sharp angles. The Japanese haiku theme (technically, Wardlaw explains in a note, the poems are senryu, focusing on "the foibles of human nature") is carried through with elements and backgrounds lifted from old woodblock prints. The final page, a delicate painting of the boy nuzzling the cat, is a fitting reward for the boy's patience and Won Ton's resilience. A surprisingly powerful story in verse. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Gr 1-4--A cat sits in a shelter. There are other cats around him, yet he is alone. Will anyone choose him? Yes! But adjustments must be made...mostly by his new owners because, after all, he IS a cat. Wardlaw's book (Holt, 2011) strikes just the right notes. Written in clever and evocative haiku, this delightful story follows Won Ton as he settles into his new home and neighborhood. This cat clearly has personality, and James Yaegashi puts a subtle purr in his voice as he brings the cat to life vocally, changing the pacing of his performance to match the mood changes of the text. Listeners will smile in recognition of the vicissitudes of catdom, and come away feeling as if an errant tail has just flicked past their ankles.--"Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA" Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Sometimes the full savor of a book only comes through silent absorption. That is manifestly the case with 'Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku'...Children old enough to read will get the full force of the harmonious combination of Lee Wardlaw's wry verse and Eugene Yelchin's witty illustration." —Wall Street Journal

"From the front cover on, this nameless shelter cat steals the show, with wide eyes, a sinewy body and a blue-gray coat....The charm of the text is that we see everything anew, from the cat's perspective." —Chicago Tribune

"Gloriously illustrated by Eugene Yelchin, the story is a beguiling tale of a wary shelter cat and the boy who takes him home. It's an adoption story that's funny, touching, visually exciting and unforgettable." —Santa Barbara Family Life

"The poignant story of a shelter cat finding a forever home unfolds in haiku verse in this funny, lovely and original picture book...offering a beguiling mix of humor...and emotion—along with a painless lesson in the creative possibilities of this form of poetry." —Buffalo News

"Perfect pussycat poetry for anyone who has ever loved a shelter cat." —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

"[A]n unforgettable character in a shelter cat whose veneer of cynical toughness masks his vulnerability. Won Ton's sweetly humorous story will steal the hearts of readers young and old." —School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"Both the tightly constructed lines and elegant, playful illustrations unerringly imagine a cat's world, including the characteristic feline seesaw between aloof independence and purring, kneading adoration...[A] wry, heartwarming title that's sure to find wide acceptance in the classroom and beyond." —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

"A surprisingly powerful story in verse." —Publishers Weekly