Review Detail

Cat's Very Good Day

Kids Fiction 460

Cat's Very BUSY Day!

March 11, 2023

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

3.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

Told in very short, rhymed lines (Sunrise lounger/Piano-key pounder), a sassy cat wreaks havoc with his environment, drinking from the toilet, playing in a dollhouse, typing on the computer, and destroying the sofa until being put outside. There, the cat roams about until his little girl gets home from school and brings him back inside. Continuing the glamorous cat life, there are hairballs to be gagged, legs to be licked, and at the end of the day, cuddling to be done.

Good Points

This was a very realistic look at how cats spend their days. Admittedly, I am more of a dog person, and read a lot of books like Thomson's A Family for Louie, but my daughter has recently adopted a cat. While the cat in this book is not shown actively killing birds, there are indications that more nefarious feline activities are being conducted. Threatening gold fish! Messing up sock drawers! Sprawling over the bed! Cat owners will love that the sorts of things their own cats do are shown on the page.

Small's illustrations are always marvelous, and the cover of this reminded me very strongly of 1960s I Can Read books Lopshire's Put Me in the Zoo. The text style, and items in the background, and the plentiful use of white space all have this feeling, which will appeal to grandparents who are my age and want fresh new books in a familiar style.

I have a lot of dog picture books in my collection, and I'm assuming feline fans have cat books. This reminded me more of Henkes' Kitten's First Moon than Litwin's Pete the Cat or Brul's Bad Kitty, and I can see this cat prowling around the neighborhood and stalking chipmunks right along with Schacher's Stretchy McHandsome.