Fanny
by
Stephen Cosgrove

Illustrated by

Robin James

Rourke Enterprises, Inc., 1986, 28 pp.
ISBN: 0-86592-239-X

Genre: Picture Book
Subgenre: Children / Handicapped
Reviewed: 11/20/2002

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Fanny the 3-Legged Farm Cat

Because Fanny had only three legs instead of four she had to hobble and hop to and fro to get to there and back again. She hopped to get a drink of milk and on warm spring days, hopped atop the fence to sun herself. Even though she had three legs Fanny got around pretty well. In fact, she needed no help from any of the other animals in the barnyard -- not that they had ever offered any.

The other animals never talked to Fanny because they felt it was too embarrassing to talk to a creature who is handicapped.

Whenever Fanny hobbled by, the chickens would turn their backs, ruffle their feathers and look the other way. Sometimes a chick would try to talk to her, but one of the old hens would always come kicking and cackling and shoo the chick away.

"Don't talk to her little chick-chick. You would just embarrass her. Besides, she has nothing to say."

But Fanny would act as if she didn't mind and hobble on her way.

Synopsis

Out in the countryside lives a gray tabby named Fanny. She lives on a farm with chickens, cows, sheep and a dog. But there is something different about Fanny. She is missing one of her hind legs The other animals know about Fanny's missing leg and ignore her as she walks around.

The tough old chickens tells their chicks not not to talk to Fanny because they will only embarrass the cat and that Fanny doesn't have anything to say anyway. This is repeated with the tough old cows and sheep.

One day, Ruby the small dog, the fastest licker around, was dared by a bossy cow and an old ewe to lick old Fanny. Ruby, always up for a good licking, took the dare, which started a chain of events that would change the farm forever.

Fanny is a book intended for children of the age between six and nine. It is a picture book with quite bit of text and can be read aloud by a second grades. The text is large and the artwork is colorful and stunning. The story revolves around a handicapped cat on a farm as she struggles to be accepted by all of the other animals who, generally, just prefer to pretend that she does not exist. One small dog proceeds to prove them all wrong.

Review

Fanny is an interesting story about a cat with three legs. Stephen Cosgrove has written a wonderful story that will help alleviate the fears of children about the handicapped. It is written in a way that children will understand that the handicapped are not to be shunned or failed to recognized, but to be valued. Cosgrove teaches that beings treat the handicapped as almost invisible.

The animals in the story see the three-legged cat as not worthy of being talked to, and if you did talk to her, she would only be embarrassed by her malady. Cosgrove proves all the animals wrong in their ignorance of the handicapped. Obviously, the animals represent humans. We humans fear the unknown. It is in our nature. But if a young child reads this book, or has this book read to them, they may begin to understand that they do not need to fear the handicapped, but treat them as equals. Robin James has done a wonderful job of illustrating this story.

Every full-color picture is beautifully painted and very realistic. James' artwork matched Cosgrove's words and enhances the enjoyment of the story.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.