Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 06/16/2025 Caldecott Honoree Lies turns a cat-and-mouse tale into a handcrafted visual tour through art history in this immersive picture book. When a gray kitten snoozing atop a sofa suddenly spots a mouse, the latter escapes by leaping into an "Egyptian Antiquities" exhibition poster from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Does Kitten follow?" the narrator asks, in what becomes the book’s refrain. "Of course he does." The chase subsequently meanders through centuries’ worth of Met-housed artworks-from an Egyptian tomb panel to an abstracted Georgia O’Keeffe landscape. The kitten morphs to take on the characteristics of each, becoming a delicately rendered ink wash in the manner of Hokusai, mimicking the stylings of Remojadas pottery, and reflecting the glossy black surface of a Mblo portrait mask. When the kitten finds itself both mouseless and lost, he’s comforted by a compassionate monk in a gold-leafed Florentine panel before heading back in time for supper. Both a labor of love and a flight of imagination, it’s a journey that should leave an indelible paw-print on readers. Back matter details the artistic process and highlighted works. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) - Copyright 2025

School Library Journal - 09/26/2025 Gr 1–3—A mouse disappears into a poster advertising New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Will Kitten take up the chase? "Of course he will," writes Caldecott Honoree Lies, sending the pair pelting through art works from multiple eras and cultures. Rather than altering digital images of the originals for illustrations, though, the artist has taken on the far greater challenge of making his own reproductions by hand, in the same styles and even using many of the same materials. He succeeds brilliantly, as the merry scamper wreaks havoc in an ancient Egyptian wall scene sandwiched between lines of hieroglyphics; leads to encounters with a wise Japanese tortoise and a friendly—if scary—looking Pre-Columbian dog, as well as fanciful figures in the margins of an elaborately illuminated manuscript; goes through a Georgia O'Keeffe thunderstorm; and more. Better yet, along with thumbnails of the museum pieces for comparison, the artist closes with process notes coupled to workshop photos ranging from models in clay and in laminated wood to a gold leaf outline for a painted saint, and that Egyptian doorway being carved out of plaster with dental tools. The brisk pursuit ends back in the comfy living room where it began, and though the mouse escapes (sharp-eyed viewers might spot it in the next to last scene), there's a dinner bowl waiting. "Is Kitten happy? Yes! Of course he is." VERDICT Will picture book readers take up the message in this dazzling display of artistic versatility, that art is something they can make themselves as well as admire in books and on museum walls? Of course they will.—John Peters - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.