Mr. Putter and Tabby Court Colorful Calamities

When I was in my early teens, I spent one summer painting the fence around my backyard. I went through can after can of red paint, splattering my designated painting shirt and shorts liberally and getting a decent amount on my face, in my hair and throughout the grass. I made a bit of a mess, but not any place where it counted, and by the end of the summer I had a whole freshly painted fence to my credit. Yes, it took a long time... But that was a big fence! In Cynthia Rylant's Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch, illustrated by Arthur Howard, the happy bachelor who lives with his cat in a lovely house decides that his house would be a little more lovely if he painted the porch. Unlike my unwieldy fence, Mr. Putter's porch should be a one-day paint job. But small paws and fresh paint are not a good combination in this book...

This easy reader is divided into four sections: The Porch, Scat!, Very Pink and A Lovely Yellow. It begins when Mr. Putter, just about to read a funny story to his attentive cat Tabby, notices that his front porch isn't looking so hot. Time for a new paint job! The text and illustrations both emphasize the fact that this is spring and seem to tie this project into the newness of the season. It's the time for fresh beginnings, for finding in the depths of disrepair an opportunity for beauty. Frankly, I don't think Mr. Putter's porch looks all that bad, but perhaps this is as much about wanting to pour his enthusiasm into a project as fixing something that is clearly broken.

The trouble begins shortly after Mr. Putter picks up the brush when a squirrel leaps onto the railing and begins running along its wet, pink surface. Up until this point, the project has been a bonding experience for the man and his cat. He sings to her, and she catches stray rags that get picked up by a playful wind. She wants to continue to be helpful, so she takes it upon herself to get rid of the pesky squirrel by chasing it away. Unfortunately, she knocks the paint can over in the process, and her wild pursuit of the offending critter results in a pink squirrel, a pink cat and a porch covered in pink paw prints.

This was not exactly the paint job Mr. Putter had in mind. He has to start from scratch. Luckily a sympathetic Mrs. Teaberry offers to help, and together they begin to paint the porch sky blue. And then a chipmunk comes along, and her dog Zeke, also wanting to be of service, remembers that he is an expert chipmunk chaser... This rib-tickling story about determination and false starts has two valuable lessons to teach. First, don't give up when you face an unforeseen roadblock to finishing a project. Second, leave the pets inside if you decide to paint the porch...

Mostly, though, Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch is just a hilarious tale of painted tails (and whiskers and paws and goodness knows what else). It's one of the most colorful books in the series, what with the burst of spring blooms and the spatter of clashing colors on the porch, and Rylant's winning style once again milks a simple story for all the humor it's worth. Excellent for springtime or any time!