How to Teach Your Cat a Trick: in Five Easy Steps

by Nicola Winstanley, Zoe Si (Illustrator)

Overview

In this hilarious and clever follow-up to How to Give Your Cat a Bath, a boy, a dog and a know-it-all narrator are thwarted by a cat who refuses to learn a trick. The perfect read-aloud for fans of Interrupting Chicken.

Step one: Decide on a trick
Step two: Get some treats ready
Step three: Hold the treat in your hand and ask your cat to do the trick
Step four: Watch your cat do exactly what you asked him to do
Step five: Reward your cat for doing the trick

Simple, right?

This spoof on an instruction manual features an increasingly bewildered human, a nonchalant cat, a very good dog and a know-it-all narrator . . . who really doesn't know it all. How DO you teach a cat a trick? Read on to find out!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735270619
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Series:	How to Cat books
Pages:	52
Product dimensions:	9.13(w) x 7.81(h) x 0.46(d)
Lexile:	AD370L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

NICOLA WINSTANLEY has always believed in the power of stories to bring comfort. She is the author of The Pirate's Bed, A Bedtime Yarn, How to Give Your Cat a Bath and Cinnamon Baby, which won an honor prize for the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award and was shortlisted for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Nicola lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with her family, a huge cat, and a tiny dog.

ZOE SI is a cartoonist and illustrator living in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. She has a lifelong passion for laughing at her own jokes and is always looking for new ways to tell stories with her art. Zoe holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of British Columbia and practiced law for a number of years. She now spends her days making children’s books, cartooning and writing for The New Yorker, freelance illustrating, and drawing comics of everything in sight. In her spare time, she enjoys climbing mountains and petting dogs, especially her own.

Editorial Reviews

"[A]n air of classic Sunday comics. . . . Droll humor at its best for both dog and cat lovers." —Kirkus Reviews

"[A] funny, sweet story that highlights what all cat owners know: cats will do what they want, when they want." —CM Reviews

"“[T]his book will have you and your little ones laughing out loud. Zoe Si’s illustrations are perfectly simple, expressing emotion in the little boy, his frisky cat, and helpful dog. A must read for cat lovers!" —Quebec Library Association

From the Publisher

2022-09-14
Five easy steps…to giving readers the giggles.

An unseen narrator and a protagonist with light brown skin and curly hair interact in this humorous guide to training a cat. The cat in question, Einstein, has other ideas, though, and the introduction of a pet dog, Noodles, who is a silent witness to this training session, repeatedly reminds readers that some pets are easier to train than others. For every trick Einstein is shown, Noodles accomplishes it without notice or fanfare, excluding perhaps the odd chuckle from readers. The ending double-whammy joke of Noodles finally being noticed—and wholly blamed for a communal accident—and Einstein showing off an impressive musical trick (unnoticed) combine into a “cherry on top” moment that will delight readers of all ages. The digital illustrations are hip in a retro way and have an air of classic Sunday comics. Readers with a dry sense of humor will dig this most, so if you have a future New Yorker subscriber in your life, they’ll fall for this book hook, line, and sinker. Cat and dog lovers, especially those who fall into both camps, will also enjoy the quiet moments of mirth when Noodles’ and Einstein’s personalities are on full display. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Droll humor at its best for both dog and cat lovers. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews