Birdwatching! Max and Bird by Ed Vere

MAX IS A KITTEN. KITTENS CHASE BIRDS.

BIRD IS A BIRD. BIRDS GET CHASED BY KITTENS.

That's the way it usually is. Nature takes its course.

"LET'S BE FRIENDS," SAID MAX.

"FIRST, I'LL CHASE YOU. THEN MAYBE I'LL EAT YOU UP."

Bird may be a fledgling, but he wasn't born yesterday. Being a potential cat treat is not on his bucket list. And besides, he's never even learned to FLY. He observes that eating each other is not part of being friends, either. Bird launches into a lesson on how friends help each other. As a diversion tactic, he slyly suggests that Max give him flying lessons. Max is intrigued, but his knowledge of the principles of flight is pretty paltry.

"BIRD, WHAT YOU DO IS.... ER...

AHEM! WE'LL GO TO THE LIBRARY!" DECIDED MAX.

So far, so good, thinks Bird. At the library they make their way to the section on flight, but there's a problem with this delaying technique. There are a lot of books, but Max is a quick study. He boils the principles of winged flight down right away:

1. CONCENTRATE.
2. STICK OUT YOUR WINGS.
3. FLAP!

Max tries to demonstrate, but does not achieve lift off. Neither does Bird. At the end of the day they are too tired for any chasing games. The next day Max's flaps are still unproductive. Bird, however, has (as Pooh's friend Owl wisely pointed out) "the necessary dorsals," and eventually his practice is rewarded with a short solo flight. Max is a changed kitten. He's truly proud of his friend and finds he has no desire to eat him.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT FRIENDS DO!"

In Ed Vere's latest story of his adorable little black kitten Max, nurture trumps nature in Max and Bird(Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, 2017). Friendship changes everything, and Max and Bird look forward to lots of happy future fun. Ed Vere's artwork is deceptively simple, placing his little black bird and his little black cat front and center, spot-art style, against bright backgrounds, directing the eye to his two very different youngsters working out how to be friends. Vere's illustrations make use his characters' big round eyes to portray most of their feelings, with just a touch of body language in Max's tail and Bird's little wings to tell the story, making this funny tale perfect for preschoolers still trying their young wings in beginning friendships.

Ed Vere's other Max books are Max the Brave and Max at Night (see reviews here.)

Says School Library Journal, "This book is a fun read about forming meaningful friendships and learning from others."

Doing the Dark! Max at Night by Ed Vere

THIS IS MAX.

IT'S WAY PAST BEDTIME.

Day is done, and Max the little black kitten is going through his necessary nighttime ritual. He says goodnight to his fish, and to the spider, and to his favorite box, and then he comes to his final goodnight.

"GOODNIGHT, MOON," MAX SAYS.

BUT THE MOON IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN.

Max is sleepy, but he is also brave and determined. He goes outside, under the dark blue, starlit sky and calls to the moon.

Still Moon is nowhere in sight. How can Max say goodnight?

Max thinks about that.

"MAYBE I'LL SEE MOON IF I GET A LITTLE HIGHER," THINKS MAX.

Max hops up on the snoozing dog's back. No Moon. He climbs a tall tree, and from there clambers up on the rooftops, but he still sees no sign of his Moon. He goes up to the roof of the tallest building he can see, but he sees no Moon from there. Weary, Max scales the highest hill. A chill wind whips around him. The sky is cloudy and dark. Max can't see the stars anymore. Where is Moon?

"MOOOOON!"

And then the wind parts the clouds, and there is MOON! Max at last gets to tell him goodnight! Then Moon whispers a secret.

"DID YOU KNOW THAT I CAN HEAR YOU SAY GOODNIGHT FROM HOME?"

"NOW YOU TELL ME!" SAYS MAX.

In the companion book to his 2015 hit, Max the Brave, Ed Vere's Max at Night (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2016) takes the sometimes intrepid Max into a new nighttime adventure. A tiny, big-eyed black kitten, Max is an unlikely hero, but he bravely does battle with the dark and finally finds the light, a benevolent Moon who whispers the comforting message that he is always there, even when he's not in sight, the very message that parents also seek to impart at bedtime.

Youngsters will enjoy knowing what Max finds out, that the moon is a constant of the night, and Ed Vere's illustrations make Max the center of each page as he moves left to right across the succeeding pages and the background shifts from the cozy pastels of Max's room to an ever-darkening and ascending landscape, one that parallels his theme. This story happily ends, as all good bedtime stories should, with little Max fast asleep. "Cozy, dozy, comforting fare," says Kirkus.

Max the Brave by Ed Vere

Like the youthful heroes of yore, Max is ready to go out on his first quest. Being a little black kitty hero, his chosen monster is the fabled Mouse. There's just a miniscule problem...

MAX NEEDS TO FIND OUT WHAT A MOUSE LOOKS LIKE.

Tired of being called "Sweet Kitty" and wearing a cutesy bows, Max dresses the part of caped crusader and is all settled to show his mettle in the conquest of The Mouse, just as soon as he figures out just what he looking for.

He approaches an empty tin can. He bravely calls out a challenge:

"MOUSE! ARE YOU IN THERE?"

A housefly flits out. Surely that cannot be the legendary Mouse!

Max stalks the goldfish bowl and repeats his query:

I AM FISH, BUT I JUST SAW MOUSE DASH OUTSIDE," SAYS GOLDFISH.

Outside, Max sees a flock of birds. No, they're not Mouse, but they just happened to see Mouse scooting by. Pink Elephant ("Eeeekkk!") and Rabbit ("Thataway!)" give Max the same bum steer. At last he stumbles upon a likely-looking little critter with whiskers and long tail; Hmmm! This looks do-able!

"ARE YOU MOUSE, BY ANY CHANCE?" MAX POLITELY INQUIRES.

"WHO, ME?" SAYS MOUSE. "CERTAINLY NOT. I'M MONSTER, BUT I DID JUST SEE MOUSE SLEEPING OVER THERE...."

Just a cartoon mouse Jerry always gives Tom the cat the runaround, Mouse cleverly identifies Green Monster as The Mouse, and after consideration of his considerable big teeth and even bigger mouth, Max the Brave throws in the towel, er, cape, in Ed Vere's quirky cat and mouse tale, Max the Brave (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, 2015). Vere's small centered illustrations, limited to Max and his current tete a' tete partner, and his understated but super-polite text, give this one a wry twist on the hero story in which Max the Brave eschews chasing and morphs into, maybe not Max the Wise, but certainly Max the Expedient. "A cat-and-mouse game to be laughed at and re-read," quips Kirkus Reviews.

Ed Vere's other books include Max At Night, and Bedtime for Monsters.