Review by Booklist Review
Evocative, whimsical art portrays a wide array of cats exhibiting various activities, behaviors, and moods, and in lively free-verse poems, they individually explain the motivations behind them. Charmer, for instance, features a swirly, curled-up, winking kitty ( Scratch behind my silky ears ). Dream depicts a serene cat, in soft, gray-scale tones ( I close my eyes and dream . . . / Of saucers filled with steamy milk ). Others model Flustered (upside down, tangled-up with yarn), Joy (catnip toys from my people ), and Sneaky, a kitty pilfering a fishbowl snack, aiming to blame the dog. Vibrant mixed-media illustrations depict the cats with bold colors, eye-catching patterns, scribbly lines, and thick brushstrokes, deftly using palette and perspective to convey emotion a cat with its back turned against shadowy-blue background is Pouting, while ""Angry"" features a bright red background and a furious-looking cat with black fur standing on end. Originally published in the Netherlands but with original English text, this ranges from silly to contemplative, but it's van Hout's art that takes center stage in this imaginative picture book feline aficionados especially will enjoy.--Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2020 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Are cats capable of poetry? They are in this volume, which imagines their interior lives through 20 short poems, some more predictable than others. In "Dream," a serene gray puss blends into its lavender-gray backdrop, musing "I close my eyes and dream.../ Of saucers filled with steamy milk./ Rivers of creamy moo-cow juice." A page later, "Angry" somewhat features an aggressively scribbled black cat arching its back upon discovering "You threw away my scratching post!" Color pours off each page in van Hout's vibrant, bold illustrations--a mix of acrylic ink, oil pastels, and gouache. His felines expressively embody Spray's emphatic free verse, which authentically gives voice to cats' changeable emotions. Ages 6--10. (Oct.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--4--Anyone who has spent time with a cat is well acquainted with their mannerisms. This book perfectly encapsulates everything that is elegant and enigmatic, sinister and sassy in feline behavior. Free-verse poems provide glimpses into the minds of cats, always with a clever, subtle sense of humor. These verses will work well when teaching children that poetry comes in many forms, not just rhyming couplets. The illustrations are simply gorgeous, with each spread showcasing a single vibrantly hued cat in different poses that perfectly complement the text. The pouting cat that got in trouble for taking turkey off the counter is giving readers the cold shoulder. The haughty princess is looking down her aristocratic nose. The angry cat (beware of throwing away a beloved scratching post) is shown with glowing red eyes and spiky black hair standing on end. The emotion in the verse is palpable in the coordinating illustration. VERDICT The rhythmic text and dynamic art will delight all readers, but cat lovers will take extra pleasure in the quintessentially feline traits celebrated in this book.--Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Colorful, expressive pictures of cats are accompanied by brief text.Each double-page spread features a feline portrait. From a swirly green, blue, and yellow cat stretching ecstatically to a cozy, curled-up kitty in warm shades of pink, red, and orange, 20 different cats are featured. The vivid artwork dominates. Bright hues, scribbly lines, and high-contrast backgrounds combine to create pictures that pop, and the relatively large trim size adds to their impact. The accompanying words, unfortunately, fail to match the illustrations' intensity. They are written in a repeating pattern that includes the title, four lines/phrases, and (usually) a single word as the fifth and final line. Some are convincingly catlike. One cat's angry diatribe over a thrown-away scratching post and another sly cat's plan to pin the pet fish's demise on the dog both seem believable and offer a hint of humor. Others depict situations that feel predictable, preachy, or even confusing: Why does one hearth-loving old cat claim to have 20 lives? Changes in type and font size as well as multiple exclamation points and ellipses are presumably meant to indicate emphasis but make for a too-busy read. The paintings were apparently originally published with poems by five different authors in the book's original, Dutch edition; Spray's text is original to this Canadian import.Arresting illustrations and prosaic observations don't quite make a coherent whole. (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
