Here Kitty, Kitty - Marilee Joy Mayfield - ★★★

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AUTHOR: Marilee Joy Mayfield
ILLUSTRATOR: Aliya Izmylova
GENRE: Children's Picture Book.
RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A cute story based on a Christmas folktale from Norway. A fun read, but it needed to fill in some gaps in the flow.


Story Synopsis:
When a man finds a great white polar bear in Northern Norway, he trains her and takes care of her. While he loves his new “pet”, he decides to present her to the king of Denmark. On their way, they spot a cottage where they decide to rest of the night. However, the owner hesitates, revealing to them that the cottage is visited by trolls every Christmas Eve, who throw out the family, take over the house for the rest of the holidays and eat up all the food. The bear’s owner still begs for shelter, saying that he might be able to help. What happens next? Either you already know if you have read the original folktale, or you can read this book and find out.


I have heard this folktale before, though I didn’t know that it was of Scandinavian origin. This picture book is more or less faithful to the original story. I like that it is written in simple prose (No rhymes, yay!), with about 2-3 paragraphs on each page. The vocabulary is fairly easy for the target reading age, so the book would work well for children aged 4-8.

Kids who like folktales or stories about animals will probably enjoy this story. However, I wanted the plot to fill in some of the gaps. For instance, how did the trolls discover the “kitty” hiding in the corner? What happens after the trolls run away from the polar bear? Why is the cottage owner not scared of the trolls the next year though he didn’t even meet the bear and his master after their encounter with the trolls? There’s a lot left unsaid, which makes the flow feel a bit jumpy. One thing that left me quite confused was why a man from Norway wanted to give such a majestic gift to the king of Denmark. I had to Google the link between the two countries. I’m not sure if kids would know that the countries are different, but at least some adults (who are overthinkers like I am) might wonder why the shift of loyalty to another nation.

The illustrations also left me with mixed feelings. I adore the polar bear – she is a cutie, and in some places, actually resembles a giant cat. The snowy mountains also look charming. However, the trolls honestly don’t look scary at all. Even their descriptions don’t match the illustrations accurately. For instance, the text says that they have furry hands and long fingernails, but most of the trolls had smooth hands.

All in all, this was a decent read for me, but it could have benefitted with some more attention to detail in the illustration and a plugging in of the plot gaps to make a greater impact.

My thanks to author Marilee Joy Mayfield and BookSirens for the DRC of “Here Kitty, Kitty”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This book is currently available free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

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