Lily’s Cat Mask by Julie Fortenberry (2017).
A sweet, gentle, honest story about finding a way to feel like you, to feel comfortable, to navigate new things in your own way.
(click image(s) to enlarge)
The start of school is approaching, and when shopping with her dad, only one item calls Lily’s name. A cat mask.
Lily does everything in the cat mask all summer. Goes to the doctor, meets her soon-to-be teacher, grows up.
It’s kind of a security blanket, but it’s more than that too. A mask is something that allows you to see and experience the world, but without the world seeing you. It’s a way to ease into something, to check it out first, to have a little buffer from what’s now and what’s coming next.
So when Lily can’t wear the mask during certain times at school, the reader sees her feeling strange and uncomfortable and a bit out of sorts. Until the day of the costume party, which I get the feeling the kind teacher may have thought Lily would like.
One of the things I love about this book is that Lily doesn’t change who she is. She doesn’t all of a sudden love the spotlight. She stays herself, but she grows too, and even inspires someone else. In the end, Lily wears her trusty cat mask to the costume party. She’s comfortable again. And she’s no longer alone.
Big thanks to Penguin Young Readers for images!
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I’m delighted to have Shelly from Creating Creatives with a cat mask craft like Lily’s for us! Her site is full of wonderful art projects for kids. She’s even got a template to make it even easier to make your own.
Over to Shelly!
What you need:
Paper Plate
Something to color with, we used Paint & Paint Brush & Kwik Stix
Scissors
X-acto Knife
Hole Punch
Pen or Blunt Pencil
Pipe Cleaner or String
Start by cutting the outer (red) circle on mask template.
Once cut, take your paper plate and turn it upside down. Center the template on the bottom of your plate and trace the features you want to use with a ball point pen or dull pencil. You want to make an indentation in the plate, so it looks like the picture below. The eyes are probably the most important.
Trace the dotted line on the top of the head, then draw 2 curved lines from the top dotted line to the edge of the plate; these will be the edges of the ears.
Use your scissors to cut the top section (the part between the ears) out. Then use your x-acto knife to cut out the inner most pupil, this is the dotted line part of the eye on your template. If you want to cut out a mouth, use your x-acto knife to cut out the mouth too.
Now it’s time to personalize your cat! I put out a bunch of things to color with for my little creatives to decorate their masks. Their favorites were paint and Kwik Stix.
This is a great time to look at the cat masks in the book and discuss what features their cat mask might have. We discussed spots, stripes, tigers, rainbow cats and cats with different colored eyes. Have fun.
Once the paint has dried it’s time to hole punch and add the pipe cleaner / string. Because everyone’s head is a little different, place the mask on your child and see where it’s best to hole punch.
Now thread your pipe cleaner or string through the hole and twist, or tie. We like using pipe cleaner because it’s easy for my little creatives to put their masks on by themselves.
Here’s a PDF with all the instructions, plus step-by-step photos:
lilys-cat-mask-craft-instructions
Shelly is a Visual Effects Producer turned Entrepreneur who lives with her husband and 3 young children in sunny California. After having her third child, she realized she wanted to spend more time with her family. Many a happy afternoon of arts and craft with her children led her to the realization that she needed to spread the word about creating together with children, and how inspirational it is. So she created an online space with fun and simple projects to do just that. You can visit this happy space and hopefully grab some inspiration at creatingcreatives.com.
Thank you, Shelly, for sharing this craft with us—so much fun and the photos of your family are the sweetest!
