Sunny and Oswaldo

Title:

Sunny and Oswaldo

Author:

Summary:

Sunny does not like cats—especially Oswaldo. He’s cranky and mean. Sunny’s dad loves Oswaldo. She does not understand why. When Oswaldo doesn’t come home one day, Sunny is happy. But her dad is sad. Sunny wants her dad to be happy, so she helps him look for Oswaldo. But can Sunny and Oswaldo ever get along? -- Amazon.

Audience:

Ages 4-6. Algonquin Young Readers.

Grades K-1. Algonquin Young Readers.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

32 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Cats -- Juvenile fiction.

Human-animal relationships -- Juvenile fiction.

Author(s):

Colombo, Alexandra,

Publisher:

Algonquin Young Readers,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9781643750958

Publication Information:

Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Young Readers, 2023.

Call Number:

P MELLEBY

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003655175	New Picture Books	MELLEBY	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A moving story of friendship, family, and the importance of empathy from award-winning author Nicole Melleby, expertly rendered with vibrant, expressive illustrations from Alexandra Colombo.

Sunny does not like cats--especially Oswaldo. He's cranky and mean.

Sunny's dad loves Oswaldo. She does not understand why.

When Oswaldo doesn't come home one day, Sunny is happy. But her dad is sad.

Sunny wants her dad to be happy, so she helps him look for Oswaldo.

But can Sunny and Oswaldo ever get along?

Author Notes

Nicole Melleby, a New Jersey native, is the author of highly praised middle-grade books, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season . She lives with her wife and their cat, whose need for attention oddly aligns with Nicole's writing schedule.

Alexandra Colombo was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and attended secondary school in Italy, where she specialized in scientific studies and then studied at the Milan European Institute of Design, receiving a degree in illustration. Alexandra loves drawing, writing poetry, and walking in the woods.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

When Dad brings home a scruffy gray stray whom he names Oswaldo, the feline spurns child Sunny. Sunny's not fond of cats, but it still hurts when Oswaldo eschews Sunny's best attempts at camaraderie, and will only cuddle and purr with Dad, who clearly "loved that cat more than anything"--Dad even takes Oswaldo's side when the cat becomes frightened and scratches Sunny. When Oswaldo goes missing, Mom nudges Sunny to join Dad's frantic search ("They need each other," she says) and something clicks with the girl when her father explains that while Oswaldo may never get over the trauma of abandonment, "that doesn't mean he's not a good cat. That doesn't mean we shouldn't love him." In an authorial picture book debut, Melleby (The Science of Being Angry) and Bulgarian illustrator Colombo create a story about animal-human attachment, found family, and much more: with economic text and scribbly cartooning, they also offer an astute look at that moment when a child realizes there is more in a parent's heart than initially imagined. All human characters read as white. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Illustrator's agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Agency. (Feb.)