Findus Moves Out

Sven Nordqvist’s Findus Moves Out is the humorous tale of two friends learning to live with one another’s quirks. Findus is a rambunctious cat who enjoys waking up his human, Pettson, by bouncing around the room at four o’clock in the morning. On such a morning Pettson gives Findus an ultimatum, stop jumping around the room so early in the morning or move out. The headstrong Findus decides that he would rather move out than give up his early morning hops. Pettson, who is taken aback by this decision, helps his friend move out into the old outhouse in the garden. After fixing up the place, Findus loves his new home without rules and wants to do everything on his own. Without his cat to take care of, Pettson grows lonely in the house by himself. However, to his surprise, Findus wanders in for dinner and then again for breakfast. Soon the little cat is crawling back into bed with Pettson and back into his old habits of bouncing around the room in the morning. On the third night, Pettson tells Findus that he should move back in with him and the cat approves. The two agree that so long as they are living together, they need to respect one another’s boundaries. This story is great to share with children between the ages of five and eight years old. The illustrations will hold the attention of a younger audience, while the vocabulary used will challenge older readers. Furthermore, the illustrations in this book are alive with color and character. If there were no words, the illustrations would speak for themselves. Readers will be delighted by the silly images they see as they read through the story. The storyline will also create a great conversation about setting boundaries in friendships; which, is an important lesson for children. Findus Moves Out was originally written in Swedish but has been adapted into an English picture book available in print.  

Reviewed: print book by Hawthorn Press (2012). ISBN 9781907359187.

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Reviewed by: Raquel Martinez