Puppies, Pussycats, and Other Friends
Gyo Fujikawa
Grosset and Dunlop (1975)
Everyone should have an Aunt Marni. Our Aunt Marni is not a blood relative, but a dear friend that took on her role as Mirette's Auntie with gusto. We don't have much family near by and the ones that are close don't have the time or energy to have a relationship with a toddler (major exception is Steve's two daughters who are Mirette's other BFF's). The rest of em' love her, but from afar. What was once a source of sadness, has created the opportunity for other wonderful people to fill in these roles.
When Aunt Marni comes to call, Mirette pulls her away and they play for hours. I think she has no idea that Aunt Marni is actually an adult. When she comes, she often brings something along. Her little gifts are well thought out and often become our favorite toys round here. For example, once she brought a bag of tiny teddy bears in four different colors. They have been played with so much. Another time she brought a paper house that has little doors and windows that open.
Aunt Mari loves the illustrations of Gyo Fujikawa and brought Mirette the book Puppies, Pussycats and Other Friends. Gyo's children have big round heads and are very friendly-looking. She makes excellent use of alliteration such as :Wouldn't you like to have a furry, fuzzy, feathery or slithery-smooth friend?" . She also keeps it very simple and clear---"some animal friends are very small like fishes and frogs." Our favorite page is one where seven beatuful kids are standing in the grass, each with an small animal atop their heads.
What Gyo Fujikawa, who died in 1988, is most known for is featuring children of many ethnicities (rare at the time). She also created several postage stamps. Here's an article in celebration:
http://ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/diversity/versed/versedbackissues/september2005a/fujikawa.cfm
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