Title: Kitten Construction Company: Meet the House Kittens
By: John Patrick Green
ISBN: 1626728305 (ISBN13: 9781626728301)
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary: 
All Marmalade wants to do is build things.
She is, after all, a trained architect.
She’s also a distractingly adorable kitten.
Fed up with not being taken seriously because she’s so cute, Marmalade bands together with a handful of other aspiring builders—all of them kittens. But in a world where humans call the shots, can the Kitten Construction Company prove their worth . . . without giving up the very things that make them kittens?
Review:
I must say, I enjoyed this graphic novel. Of course, since it involved kittens, how could I not enjoy it? The cover of the book was so cute. In fact – the graphics were quite engaging.
Marmalade (along with a bevy of other kitten’s) just wanted to build things. When the powers that be at City Hall decided to construct a new mayor’s mansion, they needed to get an architect… so Marmalade presented her plans for the project. Unfortunately, the city planner could only see Marmalade as a “cute little kitten”. She was frequently considered too adorable to be taken seriously. That did rankle me a wee bit since one should be judged on their professional/work merit and not dismissed due to being adorable or cute. Basically, a good story of discrimination…”no one takes you seriously when you’re a kitten.” -> a common comment throughout the story. Okay, enough of a rant….carrying on…
Another point which I found a bit disturbing was in the beginning when Sampson decided to join forces with Marmalade but needed to finish out his shift at the diner was that Marmalade and Sampson licked the plates clean…if that was the way the diner cleaned its dishes – yuck.
Seems that many “professional” kittens in the city were not getting taken seriously so they all joined forces (creating the Kitten Construction Company) and created a wonderful, safe mayor’s mansion. The comradery along with the hard work definitely sent a positive message. I loved how they all worked seamlessly and with purpose until the project was complete.
A number of the comments were priceless –for example:
“Sounds like you’ve got an itch you can’t scratch”.
Certainly a number of references which are for the more mature reader. For example when Marmalade’s plans are rejected by the city planner:
“I need to drown my sorrows.
One saucer of milk! And keep ‘em coming!”
All in all – an enjoyable read with a number of great messages and entertaining graphics for the younger reader. I think this graphic novel will be a winner!
