Mordicai Gerstein
HarperCollins (2009)
ISBN 9780060758899
Reviewed by Cayden Aures (age 4.5) and Mom for Reader Views (2/09)
In “Minifred Goes to School,” Mr. Portly finds a kitten while vacuuming under the couch cushions. Mr. & Mrs. Portly name the kitten Minifred and raise the cat like as if it were their child. Minifred has a problem with rules and does not follow them. When she gets to school the rule-breaking continues, but apparently in the rule book it is written that everyone must follow the rules except for kittens so she is allowed to continue to do so and disrupt the classroom on a consistent basis.
Cayden: “That cat does bad things. No one is going to want to play with her because she doesn’t play fair. She talks back too. It is not fair that she doesn’t have to follow rules too. Cats aren’t supposed to go to school with people anyway.”
Parent’s comments:
I really didn’t care for the message sent in this book, “Minifred Goes to School.” Basically, because Minifred is a cat and not a child, she doesn’t need to follow any of the rules at school and is allowed to wreak havoc without any disciplinary action. So I guess if you are different you don’t need to follow the rules. I also thought it was kind of strange that Mr. Portly found a kitten while vacuuming under the couch cushions and also that they treated her like a child feeding her baby food in a high chair, wearing baby clothes, etc. Imagination can be a good thing; however, the message that it is okay for some to break the rules soured the overall book for me and I couldn’t see past that.
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