CFRB Blog Tour and Review: The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again by James D. Maxon


The Cat that Made Nothing Something Again
by James D. Maxon

This month, CFRB presents The Cat that Made Nothing Something Again by James D. Maxon.

About the Book:
A nameless cat lives in a town of dry, unhappy people devoid of moisture, joy and creativity. How did the townspeople get this way? Who stole the moisture? And how can one crafty cat return moisture -- and life -- to his town? The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again tells the tale of how a feline hero discovers these answers. On his journey he overcomes obstacles with wit and determination, finds new friends in unexpected places and learns the simple joy -- and transcendent power -- of helping others.

My Review:
The last children's book that I read was one of my little brother's Magic Tree House books a few years back. I was looking forward to changing it up a bit to read The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again. At 89 pages it was a very quick read and only took about 45 minutes to read. However I'm not sure that this book is for the younger reader as some of the words would be hard for a younger reader to understand. At the beginning of the story I was a little frustrated with the use of similies and metaphors but I got past that. In all honesty however I really couldn't get past the sponges...all I kept thinking of was SpongeBob Squarepants. I know so many kids have seen Spongebob and love him so I'm not sure how they would feel about evil sponges.

I did like the cat though, who was nameless for most of the book. He set out on an adventure to help save himself and his town. Even though he was well taken care of he knew that he could improve life for all those around him if he could just get to the king and somehow stop the sponges who had sucked the life out of everything and everyone. The story is a fantasy with some good life lessons such as thinking of others instead of yourself, and even if you feel small and insignificant you can go on to do great things. If you have kids that like animals they might like this story.

About the Author:
James was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and now lives with his wife, Cindy, in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A writer of stories, poetry, expository, narrative and persuasive genres, James targets children and teens with messages of faith, hope and insight. Current work in progress is A Wizard Tale, which is a story about a fifteen-year-old boy who is involuntarily forced to walk in his father's footsteps-after his death-and finds himself fighting against a powerful and opposing force.


Visit the author's website.

View the book trailer.

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Comments

  1. Another great review, Renee! I like that gave your honest opinion. :)

    {{hugs}}
    ~ Lori

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  2. It's funny because I'm not big on metaphors, similes or analogies very much and I keep getting told I need to use them more to make my writing more interesting. lol

    Maybe it's a balance thing.

    Would you read another book by the same author?

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  3. I get where you're coming from with the sponges: these days most kids (and adults, too, for that matter) think of SpongeBob as their favorite sponge. However, a lot of kids use sponges for artwork, too, so they're familiar with the way sponges can such up stuff. It would be nice if we could hear from some kids who have read the book or had it read to them.

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  4. It’s funny because C.S. Lewis said that children understood the metaphors in his Narnia stories better than adults. I think that sometimes when people grow up, their way of looking at both life and stories often changes. You said you hadn’t read a children’s book in a long time, therefore I understand your response to the book. I also do not know how much you enjoy the genre of Fairytales, but this too can easily affect your perspective.

    Any author knows that it is imposable to please everyone, but my goal was to write in a way that would appeal to both children and adults. Thankfully I have had a much greater number of readers say they both “got it” and “like it” and even more who said “they loved it.” One person did say, “This is just not my type of story.” He was a guy who preferred Zombie novels, so I guess this book is not for everyone. Though I would like to believe it appeals to a wider audience than the average Children’s tale. Especially for those who are looking at getting positive Christians messages to their children.

    I appreciate your honest review, and hope that those who read it would also consider my words. Anyone with questions and/or concerns can feel free to contact me directly (there's contact info on all of my sites, including the book site: http://thecatthat.com).

    p.s. Yes, I have had parents tell me their children really enjoyed the tale. I have yet to hear a negative response from a child, though that doesn’t mean one does not exist.

    p.p.s. The book is technically 134 pages long; the online version is shorter due to the larger page size.

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  5. @ Lori- Thank you for stopping by!

    @ Lee- Yeah I guess I'm not the kind of person who likes a lot of metaphors and similies LOL! But once I got past the first few pages it was better. I guess I should have clarified that some of the words would be a little hard to understand for a younger reader not the metaphors. My brother is 14 and I'm not sure if he would understand the meaning of a couple of the words. Like I said I think this is a story for an older child or adult. I have read A LOT of kids books in my lifetime and just about a year or so ago I let up on it since my brother is now older. I would be willing to try another book by the author in the future. Hope this helps Lee!

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  6. @ cathikin- Thank you for stopping by! I'm still a kid at heart and watch a lot of Spongebob LOL so I guess it is my "problem" that I can't get past the sponges! :-D But good point about kids using sponges in their art work!

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  7. @ James- Thank you for stopping by and leaving those comments about your book. You are the author so you understand more than anyone what the book is about. I hope in my review that I didn't offend or upset you. I gave my honest opinion, which as a reviewer I'm obligated to do.

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  8. I love the cover on this one. I viewed the book trailer (who would have thought we'd have trailers for books?!) and it does look and sound intriguing! How nice that the author took the time to leave a comment! I think that the best "children's books" also have a lot to say to adults.

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  9. Renne,

    No offense taken at all. I greatly appreciate your honesty. My hope was to understand where you were coming from so that I could perhaps shed some light on it.

    Can you tell me what words you think are too advanced for children? I've noticed, lately, that a lot of childrens books (I review children's books at booksforyouth.com) have words that I didn't even know. My understand is that this helps them to develope a more advanced dialog (with their parent's help of course).

    I wrote the idea of the book before Sponge Bob existed, it just took me that long to put it into book format. I hope that people would treat the sponges as seperate from the cartoon, just as I would hope that people don't expect every dog to say, "Ruh Roh Raggy!" ;-)

    Suko,

    Thank you for the kind comments. Please let me know what you think once you've had a chance to read it: thecatthat.com .

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  10. LOL James now every book I read about a dog I'll think of Scooby! :-P JK!

    I just think I watch Spongebob too much with my little brother, and the image I got in my head while reading your book was Spongebob (hey I just remembered Doodlebob from an episode of the show, he was a bad guy so I'll picture him in my head instead!!!!!)

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  11. I have give you an award on my blog. Check it out here.

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  12. It looks really cute! I love cat stories.

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  13. You know, I honestly have to say that I never once thought of SpongeBob while reading this! *shaking my head in amazement* It took my awhile to get into the story, in general, but I really started to enjoy it about halfway through. My review is here.

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