Lucy Goes to the Country (1998)

text by Joseph Kennedy; ill. by John Canemaker

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• The main point of this story is to go beyond initial perceptions and tolerate difference (and/or intrusions in one's comfort zone).
  • Assuming an adult reader chooses to point it out, the book also shows the utter normality of an alternative lifestyle.
• While there is a basic plot (city cat goes to the country and causes mayhem chasing a dog), this is essentially a concept book
  • The cat (Lucy) serves primarily as a tour guide that the children can identify with.
  • The real story, from the standpoint of the alternative lifestyle theme, is in fact the lack of a story--these guys are having a picnic and nothing lewd or untoward intrudes.
• The child appeal of this story is due to the spunky kitty character, and the humorous dog antagonist.
• The parent/teacher appeal of this story is in the flexibility of its approach to a subject considered controversial in many quarters (especially school boards)
  • The fact that the two Big Guys are gay is completely absent from the text--it constitutes a second level of the story, conveyed entirely through the illustrations.
  • Even the clues in the illustrations will probably escape a younger reader's attention--unless brought up by an adult.

See for yourself. Purchase from Amazon.com
a hardcover copy of this book (paperback not available)

My notes while reading the book

• Canemaker has a storied reputation as an animation artist--going back at least a quarter-century. Some of his talent comes across in the kinetic chase scenes--but compared to the experimental quality of his early films, these pictures are disappointingly bland.
• Several of the reviews of this book that I found online pick up on the "Peckerwood" sign in the drawing of the train station. Considering the censorious forces active out there, it might be wiser to drop unnecessary details that offer an excuse, however tenuous, to ban the book. Ending up preaching to the choir does nothing to enlighten the general public.
• Maybe it's unfair to ask too much of a single book, but there's a bit of Eloise-at-The-Plaza-Hotel effect in the country-estate setting. The implication is that role-bending is for the well-to-do, while the working stiffs can only afford bigotry.

Class discussion

• The book plays on cat behavior (self-absorption, curiosity) to drive the plot forward.
• Kids won't like baba-ganoosh either--this helps them to identify with the cat hero.
• Effective contrast between the rounded drawing of Lucy and the dog's spiked outline.

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