Pickles The Fire Cat Wants to Do Big Things

Pickles is a young yellow cat with black spots. He lives in a barrel near the house of a lady named Mrs. Goodkind. She would like to adopt him, but Pickles has a bit of an independent streak. He also has dreams of growing up and doing big things. But sometimes Pickles can also be aggressive. He chases the smaller cats in the neighborhood. Mrs. Goodkind frets over his behavior, knowing that if he had a good home he could be taught to be a better kitty. But Pickles, even though he's lonely, just doesn't seem to feel at home in Mrs. Goodkind's fancy living room. He keeps running back to his barrel.

Pickles is the star of Esther Averill's The Fire Cat, a level 1 "beginning reading" book in the "I Can Read!" series published by HarperCollins. The beginning reading level is described as having "short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts for children eager to read on their own."  While that's a good description of this reader, which was originally published in 1960, I would also say that's it's a bit more challenging than many of the readers being written for similar levels today.

My almost seven year old has struggled a bit with her reading confidence lately. She reads very well and could be tackling more difficult materials independently, but she seems reluctant to do so. For one thing, she loves being read to, and for a while she seemed to worry that if she read more on her own, it might mean Mom and Dad would stop reading aloud. We've assured her to the contrary, but she still sometimes frets about her ability to read longer books on her own.

I want reading to be a joy and a pleasure, and I want to encourage her to read on her own. So we've lingered longer in the land of early readers than I thought we would. In addition to picture books, readers are currently her favorite independent reading materials. Fortunately, there are some good ones, including many of the now-classic readers that I loved as a child. I was happy to discover this one by Esther Averill, whose Jenny and the Cat Club (a collection of short stories that works as a longer chapter book) was one of my absolute favorite books when I was not much older than my daughter is now.

Fans of Jenny and the Cat Club will recognize Pickles as one of Jenny's older, more experienced city friends. Pickles was pretty seasoned and mature in that book, well established in his role as the "fire cat" -- i.e. the cat who lives at the local fire station and helps the firemen. In The Fire Cat, we get a glimpse of Pickles in his younger years, before he finds his purpose (and Pickles is a cat who seems to need a purpose in life). The main development through the three chapters of The Fire Cat is to show how Pickles finds his way to the fire house and begins his new life there.

Averill has a wonderful way of drawing cats (both with pictures and words) so they seem delightfully feline and yet anthropomorphized enough for kids to relate to their feelings and dilemmas. Pickles is a loner who inadvertently ends up bullying younger cats, but you get the feeling he's more bored and mischievous than mean. He wants to learn to do good things, if only someone will take the time to teach him. Within the scope of this reader, he goes from bully to helper: from a cat who chases a little cat up a tree to a cat who rescues a little cat stuck in the same tree. He climbs the fire ladder (in the rain, no less!) and carries the little cat gently down. I like how the story shows Pickles beginning to grow up learn responsibilities. In the process, he learns to make friends and finds himself respect and a home.

The pictures are simply drawn in black and white with splashes of bright color, especially yellows and reds. My daughter's favorite pictures are the ones where Pickles is learning to do things at the fire house, including climbing up into the truck, helping to hold the fire hose, and sliding down the fireman's pole! "Down the pole he came -- and bumped. He tried again -- and bumped." Averill uses simple sentences and lots of repetition in the telling of her tale, which definitely helps young readers to grow in confidence. The type is large but some pages have several sentences per page. Each chapter is about 20 pages long,  so by the time a young reader gets through all 63 pages (including a number of pages devoted just to illustrations) they will definitely feel they've accomplished something.

Averill's cat drawings are as delightful as always -- I love how she captures feline expression and movement -- but her figures of people are quite clunky. One gets the feeling that she was just never as comfortable drawing people as animals. And there are more people in this one than is usual in one of Averill's cat stories, since we spend time with Mrs. Goodkind and various firemen. Still, the pictures of Pickles sliding down the fireman's pole and wearing his fireman's hat are precious. Fans of Averill's Jenny stories will even be rewarded by a glimpse of Jenny and some of the other cats from the cat club who, toward the end of the book, come to the firehouse and get to ride on the truck. They're not named, but Jenny's dark fur and trademark red scarf are unmistakable.

Since Pickles spends a lot of time around humans in this book we also don't hear him talk (as he and the other cats speak to each other in the cat club stories) though Averill gets around this by having him think and say things to himself. His personality definitely comes to life both in words and actions.

The Fire Cat is a fun early reader for children in the 5-8 age range. It's a fairly easy read for my six year old, but I like that its length and chapter divisions help her gain confidence.  If you happen to have a young reader who loves cats, they'll find this one a real treat.

~befus, 2009

The Fire Cat
by Esther Averill
HarperCollins, originally published in 1960
Level 1 in the "I Can Read!" series

Looking for more beginning/early readers?
~Readers who are ready to move on to Level 2 in this series might enjoy Arnold Lobel's Owl at Home
~Cynthia Rylant's recent Poppleton books are also terrific for beginning/early readers around this level or a bit further along