Minou

One of the most wonderful things that my wife has brought to our marriage is a massive collection of books from her childhood, a collection that includes both familiar favorites and more obscure gems. In the later category is Minou, the story of a Parisian cat that must learn some important lessons about independence. 

When the story begins, Minou is the pampered pet of Madam Violette, a successful French artist. The two live in a luxurious apartment on the left bank of the Seine, where all of Minou's needs are met in return for Minou being affectionate and charming.  Minou has never been out of the apartment on her own before; when the two go to the market Minou is always on a leash, and Minou is perfectly happy with this arrangement--she fears the hustle and bustle of the city and feels secure knowing that her person is close by.

But one night, Madam Violette is taken to the hospital and does not return.  Soon people come to box up Madam Violette's possessions, and Minou finds herself dumped on the street.  For the first time in her life, Minou finds herself with no one to take care of her.  Still terrified of the city, Minou sets out to find a new family.  She has no luck, though, and soon life on the streets has turned the pampered Minou into a bedraggled street cat, too filthy to attract the sympathy of potential owners but completely unable to fend for herself.  

Enter Celeste:  an elegant, sophisticated cat of the streets.  She advises Minou that relying on others is unreliable, and instead proposes to teach Minou to take care of her own needs.  Soon the pampered, skittish Minou has been replaced by a cat that can hunt for her own meals and cross busy Parisian streets with confidence--Minou becomes, in the author's words, "a cat of independent means."

For adults this messaging is not subtle, but the author manages to convey the moral without being heavy-handed.  Instead of being driven by the lesson the author wanted to teach, the book is driven by the charming story and by Maeno Itoko's gorgeous watercolors of Paris.  And the moral is an important one--the book has led me into some interesting conversations about independence and self-sufficiency with my children (in the back of the book there is some additional material offered by the Girls Club of America to help parents with such conversations).  

I am always skeptical of "lesson books" that purport to teach children about sharing or caring or some other theme--even when the moral is a worthy one, I think such books tend to be a lot "clunkier" than the books that just tell a story and let children sort out the lessons on their own.  Minou, however, is the sort of book that all other lesson books should aspire to be:  an important lesson conveyed through a compelling story.