By Ashliegh Gehl
Marta Pona tapped into her daughter’s love of furry animals and her son’s weekly karate classes for inspiration for Crazy Cat, her debut picture book published by FriesenPress in 2019.
“His black-belt test was the most excruciating, endurance-testing 3-hour experience of his life at the time, and heart-wrenching for me to watch! Oh, but a character-building event,” writes Pona, on her Goodreads profile, about her son’s experience.
In this 24-page read, Pona focuses on a dashing feline’s not-so-cat-like characteristics. Bike riding? Crazy Cat does that. A master at karate? Crazy Cat is a master among cat masters. Dogs that are new to the neighbourhood quickly learn that Crazy Cat can’t be pounced on when she lazily relaxes in the sun. Crazy Cat is a fighter and stands up for herself. She’s not afraid to unleash those sharp claws and take a swipe.
The warm illustrations aptly depict Crazy Cat as she is – free spirited, adventurous, fearless (puddles and sharks aside), and confident.
By focusing on what makes Crazy Cat different, Marta invites the reader to self-reflect and acknowledge their own unique differences. It’s a base for self-discovery and self-appreciation. At the back of the book there are prompts which position the reader to go beyond the page and think about animal behaviour. The normal and the not-so-normal (we all know a Crazy Cat), and how our differences are often our strengths.
Pona is a certified Ontario educator who has taught students from Kindergarten to Grade 8. She lives with her family in West Lincoln, Ontario, and is currently working on her second book, The Lonely Lion. Take a mouse-hunting cue from Crazy Cat, and be on the lookout for Pona’s next story.