The Cat, the Crow, and the Banyan Tree - Hardcover

Lively, Penelope

3.18

11 ratings by Goodreads

9781564023254: The Cat, the Crow, and the Banyan Tree

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1564023257 ISBN 13: 9781564023254

Publisher: Candlewick, 1994

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A cat and a crow, who live together under a banyan tree, explore their imaginations as they tell each other rich fantasies into which they are swept up to visit the mountains of the moon and travel at supersonic speed.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

The author of The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973) and other fantasies for children (and also a Booker Prize winner for her adult fiction) adds to her distinguished list a picture book with a delectably sly subtext on narrative style. Cat and Crow tell stories under a banyan tree. Cat's, like Cat herself, are ``elegant and entertaining''; Crow's are ``fast and furious.'' One day each in turn tells a story that takes both right into the tree, a marvelous intertwining of trunks, branches, and peering creatures. In Cat's atmospheric tale--which is virtually without event--they explore the tree's mysterious dark spaces and go on to the mountains of the moon. Crow's--beginning ``We're off!...They're after us!''--is all action; a kaleidoscope of characters zip by while Crow brushes aside Cat's anxious queries (``Where to?'' ``Why?''). Yet the frenzy leaves no trace: Back home, Crow is bored even before the dust settles. The tea party on the last spread doesn't quite tie all this up, but the parody of fictive styles is intriguing, while Milne's imaginative visualization (in lively cross-hatched detail) echoes the witty descriptions and overarching theme: be it sublime or merely fast- paced, story's reach can be broad and deep. There's enough of the Saturday morning cartoon here to grab kids; those prepared to see it will find much more. (Picture book. 4-10) -- Copyright �1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2-A cat and a crow tell stories all day at their home under the banyan tree. Cat's stories are "elegant and entertaining," while Crow's are "fast and furious." Trouble is, the tales are so mysterious and quirky that they don't make much sense. In Cat's story, she and Crow climb stairs towards the moon. They hitch a ride on a shooting star to land on the highest mountain (the moon's nose). Eyes shut, they travel back to the banyan tree. In Crow's adventure, the two friends are being followed by "'Everyone! Anyone!'" They are chased by the hullabaloos and the glockenspiel, swoosh through a ghost tunnel, and fly past a snake gang. Back under the banyan tree, all of the imaginary creatures join the pair for an English tea party. Milne's illustrations, watercolors in green, black, yellow, and blue with lots of pen-and-ink details, embellish the whimsical text. Style and color choices are similar to Bobette McCarthy's work in Dreaming (Candlewick, 1994). Better fantasies abound. - Jacqueline Elsner, Athens Regional Library, GA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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