Catside Up, Catside Down: A Book of Prepositions

by Anna Hrachovec

Overview

Filled with whimsical knitted cats, Anna Hrachovec's debut picture book Catside Up, Catside Down blends the silliness of cats with an early introduction to prepositions.

Catside up, catside down.
Cat on a turntable, spinning around!
Under a piano, over the moon,
swept high and away by a cat-shaped balloon.

A collection of cozy, knitted cats find themselves in all sorts of funny positions in this rhyming picture book that introduces prepositions like over, under, between, beside, and many more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250841261
Publisher:	Feiwel & Friends
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	259,308
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.35(d)
Lexile:	AD420L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Anna Hrachovec is a designer and artist who loves to knit little creatures. Just about everything is more fun in tiny knitted form, so she’s inspired by everything! Under her designer brand, Mochimochi Land, Anna has created hundreds of knitting patterns for a global following of creature-crafting fans. When she’s not making cute stuff out of yarn, Anna is busy making stop-motion animations with her woolly friends. Her heart-knitting gnome is one of the most widely shared animated GIFs in the world. Anna lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and two cats.

Editorial Reviews

Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids List
Texas 2x2 Reading List

“The humorous text includes sophisticated vocabulary, with words such as configure and astraddle. The image of a feline pair with limbs linked (for “cats akimbo”) is particularly funny, as is the cat matryoshka doll. The visuals are witty and whimsical but also spot-on in their portrayals of typical cat behavior—right through to the final, purrfect catnap."—Kirkus, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 2023-07-13
Rhyming couplets—full of prepositions—accompany photographs of brightly colored cats and props, all composed of knitted, sewn, and arranged yarn.

“Catside up, / catside down,” proclaims the first page in bold black lettering. At the top right of the stark white page, a sweet-looking tannish cat smiles above the rim of a blue basket. There is no mistaking the fact that the black cat in the lower left is “catside down.” Across the gutter, there’s a bright pink “cat on a turntable, spinning around”—and again, quirky, masterful details in the art. On every page, prepositions are shown in boldface. The humorous text includes sophisticated vocabulary, with words such as configure and astraddle. The image of a feline pair with limbs linked (for “cats akimbo”) is particularly funny, as is the cat matryoshka doll. The visuals are witty and whimsical but also spot-on in their portrayals of typical cat behavior—right through to the final, purrfect catnap. The last page has a rudimentary definition of prepositions that assumes understanding of nouns and pronouns—and contains one last, funny, cat-loving note. It is ironic that a book purportedly about prepositions includes some adverbs in boldface as well as prepositions. But who cares? As it entertains and educates, this book enhances appreciation for the English language. Human characters are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Delightful for cat lovers—and everyone else. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews