Freedom!

by Frank LeGall
illustrated by Flore Balthazar

I was tempted by a shelf of graphic novels at the library the other day, and brought half a dozen home. This one about a cat looked really cute, but I found it disappointing. Miss Annie, the star character, is a five-month-old kitten. Bored inside the house, she engages in some normal kitty mischief (knocking things off the desk, unraveling a ball of yarn) and makes friends with a mouse. She really longs to go outside, and when finally allowed is dismayed to find that the big wide world is not just freedom to roam and do whatever you want. There are dangers, and some other cats she meets advise her to be cautious and follow certain rules. The book ends with Miss Annie anticipating going back outside after dark to meet up with a white cat for a nighttime adventure.

I'm sure this book would appeal to young readers, especially cat-lovers, but for me it just didn't have enough. The pictures are cute, but very simple. There's no interesting perspective angles or linework, not even very engaging expressions. The storyline is also pretty simplistic and ends right when I felt things were starting to get a little interesting. Obviously the book has several sequels, but I didn't feel like it needed to be more than one volume; it would have given the story a better arc and more closure to have it continue further before cutting off.

Oh well.

Rating: 2/5 ........ 40 pages, 2010

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