Book 1: The Kittens Who Loved to Learn: this book is the first in the series and explains the history of the little kitten's family and the outside world that they explore. But the biggest adventure that these kittens have is at night, when the farmer goes to bed. Once in the dark, they are left to plop themselves on top of the ledge of the big bay window and watch all the night creatures that venture out from the underworld. These are the animals that hunt for food on the family farm. Red foxes, skunks, possums, badgers, various night birds, raccoons, deer and coyotes. Some nights the kittens watch in awe and other nights, they hold lively discussions about the animals. These conversations bring up topic such as God, life and death, environmentalism, destruction of the forests, the continued loss of farm land and more. It is JoJo, the youngest of the kittens, who is filled with jokes that challenge his brothers and sister to try and apply what they know about the creatures they watch with cute little puns that he creates. But when a storm hits, and the front window is broken, the four little kittens are thrown from the safety of their homes into a world filled with rage and danger.
This book may sound like a child's book but it is not. It is laced with heavy theological, environmental and other deep subjects that most children would not understand. It is written from an animal's perspective. Why? Because in our society, the voice of the animal is often disregarded and disrespected. It is clear that we as humans, are taking more than our share of land and are failing to respect the rights that animals have to build their homes and hunt the land. God has made us stewards of the land and animals. We should not be hogging the land. But with the expansion of city life into the country, people often forget that animals have a right to their inhabitant. Every home and business that is built in the country, robs some animal of its home that it has inhabited for years. City people often failed to understand that they are intruding and destroying wild life in the country, often killing their families as they dig and structure human homes. The kittens in my book understand this and challenge the reader to think about the destruction of the country land and the disregard that new landowners have toward wild life. Wild animals cannot be contained. They wander. They go where they must to find food. We need to get out of their way and let them have the land that God intended them to have. We must learn to co-exist with them and be good stewards. Killing animals because they inconvenience us is never an alternative or a solution.
Book Synopsis: Curly Jo, Moe Jo, JoJo and Larry are four teenage kittens that are observers of night life on the farm. Through fables shared with the kittens by the farmer, they learn about the two different worlds: animals that live by day and animals that live by night. Yet, it’s Curly Jo that recognizes the depths of these worlds while JoJo lightens up the evening with his creative riddles. As their adventures into the nocturnal world evolve, they learn about cultures that herald animals as spirit guides who are teachers and messengers there to present lessons, guidance, and protection to humans. These kittens, through the faith of the farmer, learn about the spirit world of the Christian faith that speaks to their own animal experiences. When JoJo discovers that a little baby called Jesus is born in a stable amongst the animals, a new way of looking at the life of this human/divine baby unfolds. But when a storm blows a branch through the window causing the kittens to be hurled out into the storm, the farmer is left to wonder if these kittens would ever been seen again.
"It was a dreary night in early October. The colorful leaves blew aimlessly in the wind as the dark gray clouds threatened to dump rain showers all day. The previous evening, heavy rains had fallen throughout the night, forcing night animals to find safe haven in their dens and burrows or under the various natural umbrellas of the tree forest. During the day, clouds had unleashed sporadic episodes of light rain, but once the skies had fallen to darkness, the clouds remained dark but quiet. There was a slight chill in the air, but considering that it was Mid-October, it was still quite warm..."
"Through the north living room window of the farmhouse, lying at its base, rested four teenage kittens: Curly Jo, Mo Jo, Jo Jo and Larry. Every evening, after an adventurous day out on the farm, these four teenage kittens would snuggle together and watch from inside the house as the adventurous outdoor world told stories about the mysterious night life on the farm. The previous night had been a disappointment for the kittens. With the heavy rains, all of the night actors had bunkered down for the evening, eliminating any potential for a lively night show..."
But tonight was different "as they snuggled together, their tails twitched back and forth with anticipated delight as they waited for the nocturnal night animals to appear. Like these night animals, the kittens were night mammals as well, so pulling an all-nighter seemed to come naturally to them..."
"Out of the dark and into the light of the window, waddle the first adventurer of the evening. .."