Stanley The Amazing Knitting Cat – Emily MacKenzie

I was thrilled to see a new Picture Book from the lovely Emily MacKenzie having been a huge fan of the hilarious and delightful ‘Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar.’ ‘Stanley the Amazing Knitting Cat’ is a colourful menagerie of woolly wonder and contains an array of fabulous animal characters. It is a simply, irresistible, hilarious and visual extravaganza of a read.

Meet Stanley, unlike other cats he doesn’t enjoy chasing mice or lazing around in the sunshine, no he is far too busy knitting the most amazing creations. He is a whirling dervish of activity knocking up pom-poms, whipping up bobble hats, knitting tail cosies to give to all his animal friends. But one day when Stanley spots a ‘Woolly Wonders’ competition looking for the wackiest woolly creation, it looks like his knitting obsession might be spiralling out of control.

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I love the beautiful descriptive language on each page my favourite is when he is engrossed in a knitting frenzy, ‘Clickety- Knit! Twirly Twist! Pom-Pom-Pull! Clackety-Click! Bobbly-Bits.’ This wondrous alliteration captures perfectly the determined activity taking place as Stanley embarks on his quest to create the winning entry.

The attention to detail in each of the illustrations is a total joy. I adore how the bunnies wearing balaclavas all have totally different expressions on their faces. When the animals all have their clothes unravelled, it’s hilarious to see their embarrassed faces hiding behind a variety of objects. The penguins hide behind fish, the giraffe pops out from a leafy bush and the rabbit spares his blushes under a bunch of carrots. It’s details like these which will keep bringing you back to re read the story, exploring the pages for new and fun things to spot and discover. This is a truly heart warming and funny tale about the importance of not allowing anything the things you love to get in the way of your friendship with others.

To find out more about Emily Mackenzie you can visit her at:

Website     http://www.emilymackenzie.co.uk/

Facebook  Emily Mackenzie illustration

Twitter       @emilymackenzie

Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of this book.