Jillian Tamaki, illustrator of the Caldecott Honor- and Printz Honor-winning graphic novel This One Summer, presents Young Cat, Old Cat, an engaging, visually beguiling picture book inspired by "an opinionated little gray cat named Gretel, who lived to be almost twenty-two years old."
On the opening page, a tiny gray and white "baby cat" mews. On the opposite page, the same kitten is one "hopeful cat" among others as it reaches up for human attention. The kitty's chosen child drops down, eye to eye, to ask, "Be my cat?" And so their bonded lives begin as the "scaredy-cat" travels into the unknown, where it leaps out and lands in a new home as a "finally free cat!" Time inevitably passes, and aging is unavoidable. Seemingly suddenly, the once-energetic furry becomes an "oh-so-tired cat." Eventually, a faraway wave of "goodbye, cat" sends the kitty high into the heavens; a gray/blue night sparkles with stars forming the shape of a cat. The next illustration shows the celestial creature shrinking until a final double-page spread features a small gray and white "brand-new cat" saying hello with a tiny "mew."
Tamaki's spare narrative will likely cause sympathetic tears, though the fanciful, magical ending may also be interpreted as a comforting rebirth to assuage devastating loss. Most striking is Tamaki's art, which gorgeously reveals even more of the plot than her unadorned, straightforward narrative. An author's note details her work in multilayered mixed mediums, which results in amplified complexity, transforming flat pages with notable depth and dimension. Young Cat, Old Cat proves to be a gift to readers and a lingering, celebratory homage to everlasting cat love, memorialized through inventive, exceptional illustrations. --Terry Hong