Cat, What Is That?

by Tony Johnston, Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Overview

A poetic read-aloud for young cat lovers with exquisite art and text.

Just why are cats so special? This joyous celebration of our feline friends has some answers, “It is the curl-up-in-your-lap. At any time, it is the nap.” Clever verse and minutely observed paintings invite us to explore the many moods and passions of kitties. From a tiny gray kitten eyeing a goldfish to a fat marmalade lolling on the sofa, here is a panorama of pleasures for the youngest cat lover.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567923513
Publisher:	David R. Godine, Publisher
Publication date:	05/01/2008
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tony Johnston is an award-winning author of more than 100 beloved children's books. Throughout her career, she has worked at a children's bookstore, taught a course on picture book writing at UCLA, and studied poetry writing for children with Myra Cohn Livingston.

Wendell Minor is nationally known for the artwork he has created for over fifty award-winning children’s books. His many collaborators include Jean Craighead George, Robert Burleigh, Buzz Aldrin, Tony Johnston, Mary Higgins Clark, and last but not least, his wife, Florence.

Editorial Reviews

As stylish and sleek as cats themselves, this appealing book should capture the attention of feline fanciers young and old. The title does not refer to a question addressed to a cat, but instead poses the question "What is a cat?" The poet, who never mentions the word "cat," offers a lyrical list of the animal's behavior and actions. "It is the Spy/ licking its chin/ waiting all day,/ watching the Fin," for instance, is accompanied by a painting of the back of a gray furry head observing a fish bowl. Like a photographic gift calendar, the book offers a new view of cats with each turn of the page, showing different breeds in various poses with four to eight lines of dense text. Younger children, however, may find the resulting combination of words and pictures occasionally baffling. For instance, the line "It is the Wise./ It is the Foof./ Now it is here./ Now it is poof!" in and of itself is abstract, but the illustration adds to the confusion: a cat on a dock observes the water, as if a fish has just disappeared, thus shifting the pronoun away from the cat to the object the cat observes. Nonetheless, throughout the volume Minor's cats are irresistible and Johnston's compact rhymes often astonishingly apt. Both together capture the essence of the mysterious creature we call cat. All ages. (Aug.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 3-Pete, a little yellow dog who made a brief appearance in Next Stop Grand Central (Putnam, 2001), is the star with the unstoppable appetite in this title. Starting with "cousin Rocky's accordion," the pup travels alphabetically through friends and family making enemies as he gobbles up anything in sight. Although there does not appear to be much order, there is. Letters are used many times in many words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) or they become part of the illustrations. There are different fonts and colors. The ideas are wild. "S" is not merely for "shoes"; a double-page spread shows Pete with a stinky sneaker, a sandal, a pointy shoe, and a soft suede slipper inside his body. Kalman's trademark bright, sophisticated cartoons burst out of the pages. People reappear in different guises in several pictures. Characters become familiar through a single-sentence description: "In his Wallet, Rocky keeps a list of all the times he was insulted his whole life." Fortunately, Pete destroys the list. There are as many stories and characters here as there are in any family or neighborhood. Viewers move with the frantic pace of the tale but will stop to read a tiny picture, or repeat a combination of sounds. The presentation and ideas are distinctly original and will trigger an imaginative response or awaken innovative thinking. Reading this book is a participatory experience par excellence.-Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Fascination, admiration, respect, and love for the inscrutable cat are evident on every page of this beautifully designed tribute. The spare verses provide just enough detail to inspire the richly detailed paintings that capture not only individual hairs and whiskers, but also the varied moods, actions, and personalities of these very real cats. The lines, "It is the Claw. / It is the Hook. / It is the Now-how-do-I-look?" are paired with, "It is the Pounce. / It is the Roar: / In a snowstorm / it is the Snore," accompanied by an almost life-sized, touchable orange cat, sprawled on its back on a couch, toes curled and tail curved, eyes closed, smiling, while an imperturbable snow cat outside the window stares straight ahead through the falling snow. Truly a celebration of the grace and complexity of the cat, each luminous painting will appeal to both children and adults. (Picture book. All ages)

Kirkus Reviews

Realistic feline portraits... painted in such fine detail that children... will have trouble resisting the urge to stroke the pictures.

ALA Booklist (starred review)