Review by Booklist Review
When Girl adopts Cat from the mobile pet shelter, everything is initially wonderful. But then, rules come along--no scratching the window screen, no chasing the baby--and Cat decides to quit. Cat escapes into the darkness of the outdoors, where the trees are full of peering eyes, and between the night chill and the rain, Cat soon realizes that they may have made a mistake. Returning home after quitting is the best decision ever. The story uses sparse but beautiful phrases to tell a concise and charming story of friendship, stubbornness, and the value of modifying bad behavior. The digital artwork is packed with fun Easter eggs (the most giggle-worthy being a father on Zoom wearing a business shirt and boxers) and uses color effectively to delineate between the pastel-happy home and the tense blue-and-black expanse of night. While much of the humor of the story is expressed in cheeky spot illustrations, the illustrator creates powerful drama through double-page spreads of Cat's face in their moment of behavioral realization and discovery.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A recently adopted cat is living luxuriously until the strict house rules force the "bad kitty" to quit. Waiting for adoption is a sad reality for the cat until a young girl spots her and takes her home to bask across chairs, sofas, and freshly folded laundry. Everything is peachy until the cat realizes there are rules: No eating bread, no chasing the baby, no fun. The cat decides to quit and finds herself outside in the dark, with no warmth and nothing soft to sleep on. Rescued from the outdoors by her owner, she happily returns home. In a classic tale of "the grass is always greener," this feline realizes that life is much better at home than out in the wilderness. The cat is orange with a black striped tail, and the illustrations are mostly from her perspective. The standout images are the nighttime scenes, such as one of the cat peering out the window, backlit in orange. Readers who are paying attention will get a kick out of how the illustrations show the cattechnically following the rules (she doesn't eat the bread, but spilled kibble is free game!), and cat owners everywhere will relate to the antics of this fickle feline. Human characters are light-skinned. An eye-catching and enjoyable ode to cats, in all their mischievous glory.(Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
