This week my daughter, Vivian, and I were able to share one of our favorite new books with a group of friends from our Macaroni Kid Rockville-Gaithersburg community. We hosted a party for Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn, an adorable New York Times bestseller, and had so much fun introducing this new release from ABRAMS Books to our guests! Both Vivian and my seven-year-old son Henry were instantly drawn to Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham. A bright pink, sparkly, and ridiculously cute kitten with a unicorn horn fills the front cover, her huge green twinkly eyes jumping from the page. There may not be anything as fabulous as kitties and unicorns – together they are a magical combination that dazzles and fascinates most kids I know (and a good number of adults, too!)
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The only thing more delightful than the brilliantly-illustrated characters in this book is the beautiful story that follows. Kitty believes she is a unicorn, and is so proud and confident in herself. Her friends Parakeet and Gecko tease her and call her names, though, and reject her unicorn status time and again.
When a real Unicorn arrives in the story it looks like Kitty may get even more deflated. But alas, Unicorn demonstrates true friendship and acceptance of Kitty as a Kitty-Corn, revealing that he admires Kitty’s fluffy ears and is, in fact, a Kitty-Corn, too! The kids loved Unicorn and were so surprised and excited to see that Unicorn was a Kitty-Corn. They also loved the series of illustrations on the back cover panel demonstrating that Parakeet and Gecko were trying to be Kitty-Corns, too.
This picture book has only 45 words; however, Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn speaks volumes about values that our family holds dear. When we read Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn together at our party, the children were able to shout out such golden truths as, “She can be whoever she wants to be!” and, “They aren’t being nice. Calling Kitty names is mean!” All of our guests, parents and kids alike, fell in love with Kitty and were delighted to see the two Kitty-Corns playing happily together and accepting one another. “I see you,” says Kitty to Unicorn. That’s what all of us want, right? Kids and parents, too? We just want to be seen for who we are and supported for whom and whatever we want to be!
We had a blast celebrating our own true selves at our Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn party. We made our own Kitty-Corn bookmarks to take home, we played pin the horn on the unicorn, and we even had a dance party and took turns playing follow the leader! The kids were so excited to go home with balloons, Kitty-Corn gift bags, and their very own copy of Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn!
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I received a copy of the book and compensation in exchange for my honest review of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
