A Cat Named Tim and Other Stories

by John Martz

Overview

In this picture book anthology of four mostly wordless stories, every character is colorful and cool, and every page is an adventure! For fans of Narwhal and Jelly.

In Tim's world, cats can paint on the ceiling and a cheerful porcine couple can wait months for the bus. A duck and a mouse can fly . . . a plane, of course. In "Doug & Mouse," the first of four stories, a plucky duck and mouse pair embark on a globe-spanning journey by plane, jungle vine, horse, skis, skates, paraglider, boat and submarine, but they're sure to make it home in time for pizza and tunes. In "Tim," the titular cat lives his nine lives to the fullest -- he's a basketball star (sort of), a scientist (but not a very good one), a painter (very lifelike) and an all-terrain golfer. In "Connie," a plucky rabbit follows her line of inquiry wherever it leads. And in the final story, "Mr. and Mrs. Hamhock," an amiable pig couple wait months and months for the bus, only to realize that they've forgotten something important behind at home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735270992
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	05/04/2021
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	60
Lexile:	AD300L (what's this?)
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

JOHN MARTZ is an illustrator, cartoonist and designer. He is the author and illustrator of Evie and the Truth About Witches, Burt’s Way Home, A Cat Named Tim and Other Stories and the illustrator of Who’s on First? and Crocodile Hungry. His work has also appeared in MAD Magazine and The Nib. He lives in Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

10/13/2014
In four off-kilter, virtually wordless stories, Martz (Destination X) sketches out wild journeys, career mishaps, and unpredictable turns of events involving a small cast of amiable animals. In the eponymous story, Tim appears to be wrestling with career indecision: a full-spread grid shows him dressed in the gear of 32 professions (chef, judge, superhero, etc.), before a few panel sequences follow his misadventures as a basketball player, scientist, and painter (having painted himself into a corner, he simply walks up the walls). Elsewhere, friends Doug (a duck) and Mouse (a mouse), travel over waterfalls, down mineshafts, and through underground rivers on their way to a pizza dance party; a rabbit named Connie shows off her impressive inventions; and Mr. and Mrs. Hamhock, an elderly pig couple, sit on a bench for a full year before Mrs. Hamhock wonders, "Did I leave the oven on?" (Naturally, the bus arrives just as Mr. Hamhock battles their house fire with a garden hose.) Martz's crisp, graphic forms defy readers' expectations—not to mention logic and the rules of physics—delivering pleasing absurdity with every page turn. Ages 3–5. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Shortlisted for The Governor General's Literary Awards

Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)

"Kids will love the cute animals and their silly antics. It is perfect for early readers and visual learners and will be a welcome addition to any early readers' collection." - Lori Henderson, Good Comics For Kids, School Library Journal

"A very enjoyable read, kids no doubt will have fun with Martz's creations." - Cameron Hatheway, Bleeding Cool

"To my eyes it has two things going for it, humor and cuteness. That's an impressive one-two punch for kids." - Travis Jonker, School Library Journal

"The range of varied layouts and sumptuously coloured spreads, coupled with the injection of humour and utter absurdity, will appeal to young children and many an adult." - Sarah Yewman, picturebooksblogger

"This book could be for kids who cannot read or kids that can but like to tell their own story. The pictures are fun for anyone to look at." - Adam, Age 7, San Francisco Book Review

"This colorful book is destined to be a hit with imaginative little ones." - Allyce Amidon, Foreword Reviews

"You'd be hard pressed to find a better example of a superb children's picture book." - Zainab Akhtar, Comics and Cola

"Martz certainly has his Jim Flora on overdrive here, mixed with a charming playfulness plus an abstraction and immediacy that can sometimes be hard to find in children's picture books. It's fun to see his simplicity unfold, while keeping its core." - John Seven,Vermicious

"I tested the book on my five-year-old daughter to see if she could follow it (she's just learning to read), and the way that Martz continually subverted audiences expectations led to laugh after laugh - Martz's cartooning rhythm is so steady that even an inexperienced reader could pick up on how to follow it." - Rob Clough, High-Low

"Martz' illustrations are crisp and candy-colored and a joy to look at." - Rich Barrett, Mental Floss

"Visual learners and younger children alike will pore delightedly over these nearly wordless sequences." - Kirkus

"John Martz is a master of inventive comics storytelling, and this is the kind of book I wish I'd had when I was a kid: inspiring, eye-opening, and never not fun. A Cat Named Tim is a treasure chest of wonderful." - Ryan North, Adventure Time, Dinosaur Comics

Praise for Who's On First?

"Martz's clever graphics make the premise clear to the youngest readers...Parents can now introduce the routine earlier than has been traditional for young fans and, as we all know, participating in tradition is the essence of the love of baseball." - Newsday

"Martz's expressive characters cavort on backgrounds that pop with appealing color. Clever page formatting conveys the pacing that is such an integral part of the laughs." - School Library Journal

Praise for the Ignatz Award winning Goldstar

"This was my favorite of Martz's comics. It's sharper and meaner than his other works, and the intricate structure has quite a payoff." - Rob Clough, High-Low

Praise for Destination X

"Reading Mart'z work is always a singular pleasure and Destination X is no different: a funny, neat and nuanced tale, nicely offset by the galactic feel of the purple toned hues and clear line style. I greatly enjoyed reading this, and have no doubt that you will, too." - Zainab Akhtar, Comics Beat

From the Publisher

12/01/2014
Gr 1–4—This practically wordless collection of comics for young readers features six characters, engaging pictures, and short chapters. The first entry, "Doug & Mouse," focuses on the adventures and friendship of a duck (Doug) and a mouse. Readers may have to work hard to follow the story line, as the graphics are not always presented in a linear fashion, but that is part of the tale's charm. The titular cat has his own chapter that features a few different stunts and jokes, and the following chapter with a bunny named Connie also has some funny sight gags. In the concluding vignette, Mr. and Mrs. Hamhock wait for a bus through many seasons of the year and eventually wonder if they left the oven on. Fans of Sunday comics and graphic novels with an emphasis on visual puns instead of full narratives will find these tales funny. The full-color pictures are bright and eye-catching. Some are panels and some are stand-alone images, but most chapters have several "snapshot" comics featuring the characters within. Young readers will get a kick out of finding secondary characters and amusing inside jokes in the backgrounds. This title has broad appeal for fans of comics aimed at a young audience.—Heather Massa, East Rockaway Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2014-08-06
Four whimsical cartoon outings feature an overlapping cast of small anthropomorphic animals artfully placed to lead eyes up, down, around and past page turns to mishaps and surprises. Doug (a duck) and Mouse, plainly a pair of adrenalin junkies, open with a looping airplane flight, go on to pose in 24 adventuresome settings laid out on a single spread, then take a boat ride that ends up under water. The titular cat joins the intrepid travelers for an underground pizza party, steps out himself to try on 32 different occupational outfits—again on a single spread—and goes on to a series of amusing experiments in a chemistry lab and elsewhere. In the third episode, rabbit-eared Connie spends a day in a Rube Goldberg-ian mechanical house, attends a birthday party and enjoys a spaghetti dinner at a trattoria—before an extra-long strand leads to an extremely long slurp. In the final chapter, elderly Mr. and Mrs. Hamhock wait at the bus stop through night and day and through seasons, a vignette clearly inspired by Waiting for Godot. Both the sight gags and the characters' comical responses are easy to track in Martz's flat, minimally detailed, graphic-style art. Visual learners and younger children alike will pore delightedly over these nearly wordless sequences. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews