‘Hate That Cat’ and ‘Bird’

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When real-life problems seem overwhelming, a person can give up or can find a way to go on. Two books for young readers show how a creative outlet can bring unexpected strength.

“I hate that cat” are the first words Jack writes in his required poetry journal at the beginning of fifth grade. That cat at the bus stop is black and fat and mean, and Jack wishes it would just go away, but it gives him something to write about. Jack says he can’t write about his dog Sky, who was hit by a car, or about his mother, who is deaf.

Written in first person, “Hate That Cat” is Jack’s day-by-day journal. As September turns to October, then winter, then spring, the entries grow longer and more complex. Jack shares his own life as he responds to poems by other poets: William Carlos Williams, Edgar Allan Poe, T. S. Eliot. These famous poems, chosen for their child appeal, are included at the back of the book.

Jack’s uncle tells him the words Jack writes aren’t poems. Uncle Bill says a poem has to rhyme and have regular meter and such. Jack learns, however, that he can write his own poems with his own rhythms and images “bouncing around” in his words. “I can make my lines / short / short / short / if I want to.” Slowly he moves from being embarrassed by his mother to feeling pride. He sees the mean black cat differently, too. By the end of the school year, Jack has made a wonderful discovery: a writer can tell a whole story in poems. Poetry helps Jack — and the reader — make sense of a sometimes confusing world.

“Bird” isn’t really the boy’s name. His parents named him Mehkai, but his beloved grandfather called him Bird, before Granddad died. His big brother Marcus died, too, a victim of drugs and the street. Now, every week Bird goes to the park with Granddad’s best friend, Uncle Son. They feed the pigeons and talk.

Bird’s solace is his drawing. He practices every day, over and over, learning how to get it right. He draws his grandfather, his brother, the birds sitting outside his window and soaring above the city. Bird likes drawing, he says, because “you can fix stuff that’s messed up / just by using your imagination / or rubbing your eraser / over the page.”

“Bird” is a beautifully designed and executed picture book. Bird’s charcoal and ink drawings blend smoothly into muted watercolor paintings of Bird and his real world. Poetic text relates Bird’s thoughts and feelings in a completely believable voice. The matter-of-fact delivery reveals the hard truths of Bird’s life while showing that strength and goodness still exist.

Some things in life can’t be fixed, and neither of these well-crafted books pretends that the real world can be manipulated. Both Jack and Bird understand this, but through creative expression, both boys emerge on the other side of their troubles with a sense of accomplishment and of hope.

Children’s literature specialist Paula Morrow lives and writes in Princeton. She welcomes comments and book suggestions at: Reviews@PaulaMorrow.com.