Ghost Cat

by Kevan Atteberry

Overview

There is a ghost in my house. I've only seen it out of the corner of my eye, but I think it is a cat, says a little boy in this comforting tale of love and loss.

There's something oddly familiar about this ghost cat—it does lots of things that remind the boy of the cat he used to have. The boy's not sure why the ghost cat never stays for more than a few moments, or why the ghost cat has visited him in the first place. He follows the ghost cat all over his house, until finally it leads him to something new and wonderful.

Bestselling author/illustrator Kevan Atteberry's artwork and story strike a perfect balance of evocative and haunting, as well as warm and hugely comforting to anyone struggling to cope with a loss.

With a few carefully chosen words and simple, expressive illustrations, Ghost Cat captures both the poignancy of losing a pet and the importance of moving on without erasing or forgetting what came before.

Winner of the Crystal Kite Award, Western Division
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
Washington State Book Award Finalist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823442836
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	06/11/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Kevan Atteberry is a commercial illustrator who has written and/or illustrated several books for children, including Puddles!!!, Bunnies!!!, Tickle Monster, and Boogie Monster. Many of his books have been bestsellers, but one of his biggest claims to fame is that he created Clippy, the paperclip helper in Microsoft Office. Kevan lives in the Seattle area. Visit him on the web at www.kevanatteberry.com!

Editorial Reviews

04/22/2019

In a comforting story of memory, longing, and hope, a boy is convinced that his home is being occupied by a ghost. He thinks it’s a cat because he “used to have one,” he says while wistfully looking at photos of his beloved pet. The ghost cat is definitely a spectral figure, rendered in icy blue with an ethereal white outline that pops against the setting’s predominately warm browns and oranges. But the haunting doesn’t bother the boy at all: in a series of spreads, the ghost does the sorts of things that are catnip to kitty lovers: it dashes around the house, curls up on the bed at night (“I feel its weight, its warmth, its purring”), and engages in feline mischief (splashing in the fish tank, knocking over a book and then a bowl). The boy avidly pursues the ghost cat until it leads him to his front doorstep, where a living stray kitten awaits. The final image is a wonderful one: the boy in his bed again, this time with both the kitten and the ghost cat curled up beside him. The heart, it seems, has room for everyone we’ve ever loved. Ages 3–6. Agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

* "Digital illustrations in vignettes, single and double spreads offer mainly golden backgrounds with the pale blue cat surrounded by a misty white aura and the young tan-skinned child looking a bit bewildered as he attempts to catch glimpses of his lost pet. . . . Though the youngster misses his pet, the story is not sad and could be helpful for parents discussing the loss of a pet with a child."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Losing a pet is always difficult; finding a new one isn't the solution for everyone, but in this case, it's a decidedly happy development."—Kirkus Reviews 

"The drawings are reassuring and cozy and the ghost cat is never spooky, instead depicted as a hopeful memory of the boy’s missing pet, up to its old antics once again. This story gives parents and caregivers an excellent framework to discuss loss and grief with young children." —School Library Journal


"In a comforting story of memory, longing, and hope, a boy is convinced that his home is being occupied by a ghost. . . . The heart, it seems, has room for everyone we’ve ever loved."—Publishers Weekly

"Atteberry keeps the spreads unfussy—the focus is always on the boy and the cat—in this tender and restrained story . . . Even the palette is spare: the cool blues of both the boy's shirt and his cat (outlined in white) stand out atop an orangey rust color that dominates most illustrations. There is subtle humor in the creature's ability, despite being a ghost, to knock items off furniture, as well as a spread showing the ghost cat taunting a petrified fish in a tank."—The Horn Book
 
"On every page, Atteberry poignantly recognizes a child's deep sense of loss. The boy has toys, books, music, a comical pet fish, yet Atteberry never shows more than wide-open eyes and a little nubby nose on his face, seemingly suggesting dampened reactions: the child still mourns. The first smile appears only in a photo from the past—and doesn't return until book's end, when the opening 'There is a ghost in my house' gets revised to 'There is a ghost in our house.' A beloved pet never truly disappears, but joy with a new pet is possible, too."—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

06/01/2019

PreS-Gr 2—A young boy suspects there's a ghost in his house. While he has never really gotten a good look at it, he thinks it might be a cat. He knows this because he used to have a cat. After many days of seeing it out of the corner of his eye, he finally spots it and follows it to the front door, where he finds something new waiting for him. While avoiding an explicit discussion of loss, this marvelous story conveys a young child's feelings of loneliness and grief. The portrayal of the lost cat as a specter that lingers in the child's mind is a clever and thoughtful way to show how humans can often see, hear, and feel loved ones after they've gone. Most of the digital illustrations are drawn on warm, yellow-hued pages. The ghost cat is lithe, mysterious, and playful, hiding behind fruit bowls and lurking down hallways as the young boy tries to catch a glimpse. The drawings are reassuring and cozy and the ghost cat is never spooky, instead depicted as a hopeful memory of the boy's missing pet, up to its old antics once again. VERDICT This story gives parents and caregivers an excellent framework to discuss loss and grief with young children. Recommended for purchase.—Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library, RI

School Library Journal

2019-03-12
A young child describes the behavior of a spectral cat.

Straightforward first-person narration combines with simply composed illustrations to explain why the child believes that a ghost cat shares the house with them. Although they admit that "It's always gone before I can really see it," they're convinced that the cat is moving around, engaged in typical feline behaviors like scratching, rubbing, cuddling, and meowing. Illustrations that show upended books and bowls and a traumatized fish provide additional, gently humorous evidence to support their hypothesis. When they finally catch a glimpse of the ghost cat (readers have seen it all along—gray-blue surrounded by a haze of white with staring yellowish eyes), it's on its way out, or rather "through," the front door. The child opens the door to find an apparently corporeal white kitten waiting there. Atteberry's digitally created artwork features a limited but appealing palette of primarily warm golds and browns and cool blues, punctuated with greens and yellows. Lightly sketched backgrounds are spare in detail, though a few carefully placed photos suggest that the child and cat once shared their home in a more conventional fashion. The minimal detail extends to the child's face, which is very expressive despite the absence of a mouth (the child has beige skin and a shock of straight, brown hair).

Losing a pet is always difficult; finding a new one isn't the solution for everyone, but in this case, it's a decidedly happy development. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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