"The Underneath" is a Newbery Award winning book that tells a story of human cruelty and animal sacrificing love for each other. I found the story itself to be believable, because the author, Kathy Appelt paid careful attention to the details of the setting and character description; she gave her animal characters the ability to think, feel, suffer, cry-all those traits are human. We, as readers, are able to feel what is would be like to be them.
When it comes to the plot of the story, I felt that it was a little confusing because it had three parts, that only tied together at the end of the story. I found the constant shift of focus from one story line to the next to be distracting.
What I really liked in the story is the part that was dedicated to the calico cat and the old hound, Ranger, who were portrayed almost as if they were humans, because throughout the story they became best friends and taught the reader how to love, care and protect each other.
Ranger, an old hound, was once a hunting dog, who got accidentally shot by his owner, Gar Face. Since that accident, Gar Face, who was extremely cruel, unhappy and lonely man, chained his dog to the back porch of his house. When calico cat came along and gave birth to the kittens Puck and Sabine, under the porch of Gar Face’s house (called ”the underneath”), the animals became a family. Ranger and the calico cat raised her kittens in the underneath and felt very happy and safe for a while, until one day Puck ran straight into the terrible hands of Gar Face. Kathy Appelt managed to merge an almost entirely separate folktale of a miserable, snake, Grandmother Mocassin, into the story. The snake was trapped in a clay jar made by her own daughter for over a thousand years. Finally, the third part of the story was dedicated to a giant king alligator, who became an object of nightmares and desires of Gar Face. How did these three stories fit together into the same book? Well, you’ll have to read it yourself to find out.
When it comes to the plot of the story, I felt that it was a little confusing because it had three parts, that only tied together at the end of the story. I found the constant shift of focus from one story line to the next to be distracting.
What I really liked in the story is the part that was dedicated to the calico cat and the old hound, Ranger, who were portrayed almost as if they were humans, because throughout the story they became best friends and taught the reader how to love, care and protect each other.
Ranger, an old hound, was once a hunting dog, who got accidentally shot by his owner, Gar Face. Since that accident, Gar Face, who was extremely cruel, unhappy and lonely man, chained his dog to the back porch of his house. When calico cat came along and gave birth to the kittens Puck and Sabine, under the porch of Gar Face’s house (called ”the underneath”), the animals became a family. Ranger and the calico cat raised her kittens in the underneath and felt very happy and safe for a while, until one day Puck ran straight into the terrible hands of Gar Face. Kathy Appelt managed to merge an almost entirely separate folktale of a miserable, snake, Grandmother Mocassin, into the story. The snake was trapped in a clay jar made by her own daughter for over a thousand years. Finally, the third part of the story was dedicated to a giant king alligator, who became an object of nightmares and desires of Gar Face. How did these three stories fit together into the same book? Well, you’ll have to read it yourself to find out.
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