Storm-Cat by Magenta Fox
Apr. 14th, 2024 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Arwel is having a fine day.
Yes, there’s a cloud above his head.
Yes, it’s growing.
But he is FINE, really he is …
But the cloud GROWS, LOOMS, and gets in his way, until Arwel has to admit that there’s a Storm-Cat outside - and it’s waiting for him!
After a spectacular storm comes the comforting calm, as Arwel learns that you CAN’T change your weather, but you CAN change what you make of it.
Arwel is having a perfectly fine day. He is absolutely fine with the fact that his older sibling Tuft is about to start school and his is perfectly fine that it means that his life is changing and he is definitely, absolutely, perfectly fine with the small rain cloud that has developed over his head and which is following him wherever he goes, getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger until suddenly the storm breaks and unleashes the Storm-Cat …
Magenta Fox’s self-illustrated picture book is beautifully drawn. Arwel, his grandmother, Tuft and the Storm-Cat are filled with character and great details that keep you absorbed and looking for more. However, I think that the overarching theme - that it’s okay for you to be overwhelmed by your emotions and best to let them out and acknowledge them - to be a little too sophisticated for the target audience and consequently didn’t work for me.
There is a lot to enjoy in this picture book. Fox’s artwork is packed with character and detail and it really gives you a sense of emotion - especially Arwel as he tries to deal with he swelling storm of emotions within him as he deals with Tuft going away to school. There really is a lot to look for in each drawing and the way Fox designs the characters with their outfits is just delightful.
However, I do think that the metaphor of the storm-cat is overly sophisticated for the target audience and although it can be used to start a conversation if you are a grown up reading this with a younger reader, I don’t think that the target audience would automatically pick up on it themselves. That’s a shame because I don’t think the message is a bad or irrelevant one at all - it’s just that it could have been made more explicit in what it is getting at.
My criticism aside, there is a lot of promise in this book and I would definitely be keen to read Fox’s other work.
The Verdict:
Magenta Fox’s self-illustrated picture book is beautifully drawn. Arwel, his grandmother, Tuft and the Storm-Cat are filled with character and great details that keep you absorbed and looking for more. However, I think that the overarching theme - that it’s okay for you to be overwhelmed by your emotions and best to let them out and acknowledge them - to be a little too sophisticated for the target audience and consequently didn’t work for me.
STORM-CAT was released in the United Kingdom on 7th March 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Arwel is having a fine day.
Yes, there’s a cloud above his head.
Yes, it’s growing.
But he is FINE, really he is …
But the cloud GROWS, LOOMS, and gets in his way, until Arwel has to admit that there’s a Storm-Cat outside - and it’s waiting for him!
After a spectacular storm comes the comforting calm, as Arwel learns that you CAN’T change your weather, but you CAN change what you make of it.
Arwel is having a perfectly fine day. He is absolutely fine with the fact that his older sibling Tuft is about to start school and his is perfectly fine that it means that his life is changing and he is definitely, absolutely, perfectly fine with the small rain cloud that has developed over his head and which is following him wherever he goes, getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger until suddenly the storm breaks and unleashes the Storm-Cat …
Magenta Fox’s self-illustrated picture book is beautifully drawn. Arwel, his grandmother, Tuft and the Storm-Cat are filled with character and great details that keep you absorbed and looking for more. However, I think that the overarching theme - that it’s okay for you to be overwhelmed by your emotions and best to let them out and acknowledge them - to be a little too sophisticated for the target audience and consequently didn’t work for me.
There is a lot to enjoy in this picture book. Fox’s artwork is packed with character and detail and it really gives you a sense of emotion - especially Arwel as he tries to deal with he swelling storm of emotions within him as he deals with Tuft going away to school. There really is a lot to look for in each drawing and the way Fox designs the characters with their outfits is just delightful.
However, I do think that the metaphor of the storm-cat is overly sophisticated for the target audience and although it can be used to start a conversation if you are a grown up reading this with a younger reader, I don’t think that the target audience would automatically pick up on it themselves. That’s a shame because I don’t think the message is a bad or irrelevant one at all - it’s just that it could have been made more explicit in what it is getting at.
My criticism aside, there is a lot of promise in this book and I would definitely be keen to read Fox’s other work.
The Verdict:
Magenta Fox’s self-illustrated picture book is beautifully drawn. Arwel, his grandmother, Tuft and the Storm-Cat are filled with character and great details that keep you absorbed and looking for more. However, I think that the overarching theme - that it’s okay for you to be overwhelmed by your emotions and best to let them out and acknowledge them - to be a little too sophisticated for the target audience and consequently didn’t work for me.
STORM-CAT was released in the United Kingdom on 7th March 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
