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Neddy Mittens Gallery · Neddy Mittens Reviews
Two Story Lines · Science and Environmental Education · Special Features · Reading Level
In 1907, Beatrix Potter followed the publication of Peter Rabbit with two books many of us are not that familiar with: Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester. Almost everyone is familiar with Peter Rabbit, but The Tailor of Gloucester was Beatrix's favorite book to illustrate; yet very few have read it.
After the wide acceptance of Stormy's Return, I was convinced that everyone would be just as excited about a book using the personalities of our fascinating cats, Neddy Mittens and Fred K. After all, Neddy has seven toes on each of his front feet, and Fred has six, and they are real characters! So Neddy Mittens The Polydactyl Cat came into being. In a sense, though, it has become my Tailor of Gloucester!
What I didn't calculate on is that many more people love dogs than cats. And I think some folks have failed to pick up Neddy Mittens because of that preference, or shall I say, "prejudice."
So here is my defense, or reasoning, for crossing the pet preference line, and choosing Neddy Mittens for your children nonetheless!
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Two Story Lines:
The Cat Drama: There are two story lines in Neddy Mittens. As the tiniest kitten, or "runt" of the litter, Neddy had a hard way to go from the beginning, resulting in several unusual behaviors. Although he was about half the size of his brother Fred when adopted, Neddy fiercely defended both food bowls as his own personal property! Poor Fred! Later, as Neddy caught up to Fred in size, he turned out to be kind of a "kitty bully"!
After spending pleasant hours with Fred watching birds, and napping on the bed, Ned would unpredictably stalk, and then attack Fred. Poor Fred can't meow, but he squeaks and cries every time ! Fred is very gentle and loves everyone!
When I was creating the plot for Neddy Mittens, the book, these traits seemed like a great opportunity to deal with the common childhood experience of "bullying." So many children have to deal with bullies at one or more times in their childhood, and it can be quite traumatic. It often doesn't really resolve itself, and we are left with the insecure feeling that it can happen again anytime.
Fortunately, in the book Neddy actually learns his lesson by experiencing similar suffering himself inflicted by a visiting half-sized snapping turtle! (You'll have to read the book!) He's forced to realize that that kind of treatment hurts, and it's just what he has been inflicting on his brother! Neddy is so embarrassed! He makes amends with his brother, and they end the story watching birds together, napping together on the bed, and now having many pleasant hours of play and adventures together! (It might not happen with real cats, but it could happen with children, and that's the intent of this story line!)
The People Drama: The second story line came from the necessity of creating human characters to take care of the cats. I very much wanted a little girl (Gwen in the book), to represent (in a way), Beatrix Potter as a child. Beatrix kept animals herself (rabbits and mice, and more) learned to draw and paint from one of her governesses, and eventually created her children's books based on these childhood experiences.
She also had a younger brother Bertram (Owen in my book), who loved the out of doors, animals, and scientific inquiry. (One childhood story tells of the two children finding a dead fox on their property, and without their Victorian parents' knowledge, cooking and articulating the skeleton all on their own.) So Gwen and Owen, the two children in Neddy Mittens, were born!
Of course, the two young cat owners could not live without a family, and because of my experience as a teacher and a friend of families in recent years, I decided to take a chance and make Sarah, Gwen and Owen's mother, a thoughtful and capable single parent. She makes things work, as so many single mothers do, assuming responsibility for her children's care, their growth as individuals, their education, and much more! So the family drama is much more subtle, but there is growth and many encouraging experiences of a happy family life!
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Science and Environmental Education
in Neddy Mittens:
 
As a committed field researcher and environmental educator for over two decades, it was difficult (and never my intention) to write a book that takes place entirely in the four walls of a house. But that was the challenge! In this story the children bring the outside inside! When they are not caring for turtles or salamanders their grandfather (Sarah's dad) helps Owen find on weekend field trips, they are observing and commenting on the fascinating cat behaviors of their two polydactyl pets. In fact, long before I began doing field research in herpetology and entomology, My wife and I were having similar conversations about our own two cats: we have been married 38 years, and during that time we have had four pairs of gray and brown long-haired tabbies. My wife always gets the gray one; I always get the brown one: Now you know! I've often felt like I was sharing my life with a tiny brown fox, and I think my interest in studying real wildlife in habitat grew out of this experience.
  
In the story, with their Grandfather's help, Owen and Gwen are able to observe interesting animals from "The Great Outdoors" up close: three species of Mole salamanders, Giant Silk moths and their caterpillars, and large native beetles. Gwen draws and paints them. She is really a young scientific illustrator! Owen learns to pin insects and raise caterpillars, and gets to observe native turtles up close. But both children know they will return the animals to their original habitats in a timely fashion: "Their grandfather taught them that!"
Children reading Neddy Mittens, then, should learn to practice these sound environmental ethics as they explore the natural world themselves!
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Special Features: |
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Illustrated Glossary: Just as in Stormy's Return, Neddy Mittens contains an illustrated glossary that gives children more information about plants and animals in the story's illustrations, as well as explanations for cat terminology like "kneading" and "polydactyl", that may not be familiar to them. Why define Pansies and African Violets? Even these household plants are native to some part of the world, as are most non-native plant species. But who knows where they are from? The glossary looks at common plants and animals in this light, helping children see where they fit ecologically. |
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Gwen's Gallery: Many young people enjoy drawing and art, are gifted in it, but don't have the opportunity to use professional materials or techniques. In "Gwen's Gallery," we see the artwork Gwen is doing in the page illustrations up close, and learn about the materials she used to create them. So many of us were told to "wait" on our art interests while we focused on more "serious" topics in our education. Art and illustration can be pursued by young folks now, though. Boys and girls can learn and hone their art skills at a young age, and use their gifts later in art, design, or graphic design careers, or for personal enrichment and pleasure. |
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Reading Level:
As with Stormy's Return, my goal in Neddy Mittens was to create a book that could be enjoyed by very young children, or older elementary students as well. The "cat drama" is easy to follow, and the illustrations are designed to be used in a variety of ways by adults and children. Astute parents and grandparents use illustrated books to teach very young children colors, numbers, and a variety of other skills besides reading the story itself. I know this because they told me!
What about 9-11 year olds? The children in the book, Gwen and Owen, despite my best efforts, really act and think like children of this age. Also, because the story has multiple story lines, it can appeal to older readers as well. "Gwen's Gallery" extends information about the type of drawing Gwen is doing, and the glossary contains details that challenge and enhance the book reading experience for older elementary readers.
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