Nothing But Miracles

The illustrations by Susan L. Roth take this Walt Whitman poem to a whole new dimension for cat lovers of all ages.

Susan L. Roth, the illustrator, has likened Walt Whitman's process of drawing together the diverse wonders of life into a whole, as a form of collage. She has carried this metaphor into her own illustrations, with collages of several delightful paper cats against backgrounds of textured, vividly colored papers she has collected from all over the world.

In her own words, "I love that the trunks of the trees on this page come from Portland, Oregon, that the leaves come from Amsterdam, the sky from Kyoto, the water from Baltimore. Papers are my paints and colored pencils."

The poem in the book is a somewhat shortened version of Whitman's original poem, first published in the 1856 edition of "Leaves of Grass," and titled originally, "Poem of Perfect Miracles."

The unspoken perfect miracle is that Roth has created a stunning series of whimsical collages that remind us of the miracles of having cats in our lives. I thank her for that. I would recommend this book as one to visit over and over again, for every cat lover, young or old. What a wonderful book to read aloud to young children!