ANG ITIM NA KUTING- THE BLACK KITTEN

Vizcarra, N. (1996). Ang itim na kuting. N.p.: Adarna House, Inc.

The black kitten is a bilingual Tagalog/English book about a black kitten who is trying to find a home. No one wants the black kitten because they think he is like charcoal or bad luck. Finally, the black kitten runs into a girl that wants to accommodate the kitten. The kitten talks to the girl verbally and tells her of all the great things he can do and do for her. The girl in the story tells the kitten she has no mother or father. In the end, the kitten and the girl are friends, and the girl becomes the kitten's mother.

The black kitten is an odd yet fun read. The book teaches children that appearances don't make up the reality of who or what something or someone is. The illustrations are somewhat distorted looking but they do a good job at helping the reader understand the story. Unlike some books however, one definitely needs the words to be able to distinguish the entire story line. Without the words, the story would be somewhat confusing. Therefore, you could see that the story is not only a complex idea, but it is more abstract as the reader cannot just "see" the story, they need to also read the words.

The author doesn't include any other nationalities in the book besides Filipino, which makes sense since the book is written in Tagalog, however, the book could have been more aware of including other ethnic characters besides the main character along in the book.

Literary Elements:
Mood: Interesting, Questioning
Character: Rejected, wanderer, lonely, somewhat happy
Setting: Somewhere in the Philippines, small village setting

Lexile: n/a