Puss in Boots: The Adventures of that Most Enterprising Feline

Title: Puss in Boots: The Adventures of that Most Enterprising Feline

Author: Philip Pullman

Illustrator: Ian Beck

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Publication Year: 2000

Professional Source: Kent County Library

Genre (subcategory, if appropriate): Traditional Books (European Origin)

Audience: Children

Awards: None

Critical response:

This story is the classic tale of Puss in Boots retold and expanded slightly. In this story, the clever cat Puss uses his wits to win his master a fortune, the hand of a princess, and control of an entire kingdom. It is a brilliant retelling of a story that has existed for decades, with a little extra magic to add to the whimsy of it all. The story contains many of the aspects that one would expect to find in a fairytale—a talking animal, a king and a princess, a monstrous ogre, and the use of magic. It is clear, however, that unlike many other fairytales in which people have to build their strength and fight their way to victory, the most important aspect of this story was the incredibly sharp wit of Puss in Boots. Throughout the entire story, Puss’s advice is what leads the others to prosperity.

There is a very subtle transmission of values at play within this tale. The most obvious one is the fact that the princess is reduced to a mere damsel in distress—an object to be captured by the ogre. It reinforces the message that women are beautiful prizes to be won. Also, when the ogre is choosing a wife, he rejects many of them for very shallow reasons, such as “too round,” “too rectangular,” and “too tuff.” (10) These messages reinforce harmful ideas that females are already subjected to fairly often—that the window for what is considered beautiful is very small and you have to look a certain way and be a certain size to be accepted.

Nevertheless, this book is meant to be a way for readers to derive pleasure. The simple narration makes it easy for readers to coast through the story and admire the tale of cleverness. Children and parents alike can sit back and admire Puss the cat’s wit. Readers will be dazzled by Puss’s sharp mind as he prevails over the brute strength of the ogre. Readers will understand that, with enough cleverness, brains will win over brawn.

The story is told using a combination of text, panels, and speech bubbles, as though emulating a graphic novel. These types of illustrations complement the words on the page, making the story more visually entertaining to all members of the audience. An added bonus of this style is that the illustrations are able to hold extra details that the narrations leave out, adding to the humor in certain areas of the story. For example, on page 9 the ogre is feeling unwell. The ogre calls a doctor, who asks what he had for breakfast that morning. The ogre replies by saying, “a boiled egg!” but a speech pointing to the ogre’s stomach says, “MOOOOOOO,” implying that he ate a cow whole.