Lost in a Good Book

Published: 10 October 2023
Publisher: Penguin
Illustrator: J. E. Morris
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Flubby, the cute but aloof cat, will not play outside in the snow!

It’s snowing, and Kami wants to take Flubby outside to play. But Flubby doesn’t like the snow—it’s too cold! Can Kami find a way to convince the cat to enjoy the winter wonderland?

The charming illustrations, simple text, and comic-like panels by J. E. Morris, author-illustrator of the Maud the Koala books, make this a unique format with a narrative style perfect for storytime and progressing readers. Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.

What makes the Flubby books great is you don’t need to start in any particular order to appreciate the Kami/Flubby relationship. I came into Flubby at Morris’ third book and each one is its own story, but the more you read the more you understand Flubby and understand how he’s going to react to each new situation.

This one breaks the Flubby vibes a little by having him rolling a snowball. As enigmatic as Flubby is, he has never been overly personified beyond general cat-ness. Flubby is a gem, he can do what he likes, but I was expecting him to be turned into a little snow cat or something. I will allow him to roll a snowball. Just.

Of course he is utterly adorable as he ventures out into the snow and Morris still keeps Flubby at his most cat as he waits by the door unwilling to experience the cold. The expressions are full of emotion yet still not breaking into too much personality or humanness, perfect I think to convey that Flubby is still a cat and can be as temperamental.

The story is a gradual test of how much winter clothing can we get on Flubby before he’ll come outside and in the end it’s a pretty cute sight. These books are so fun because it keeps the human/pet relationship real and gives light to how cats really do react, all the while keeping it in the picture book universe and giving us fun moments that are a teeny bit unrealistic.

You can purchase Flubby Does NOT Like the Snow via the following

 Dymocks | Booktopia | Wordery

Blackwell’s | Amazon | Amazon Aust