Someday When My Cat Can Talk

by Caroline Lazo, Kyrsten Brooker (Illustrator)

Overview

THIS CHARMING, CHILD-CENTRIC book offers a glimpse into a cat’s exciting “other” life. In a little girl’s fantasy, her cat sneaks away, hops a ship, and sails off to Europe! And someday, when he can talk, he’ll tell her all about the amazing things he discovered there . . . like whether or not British cats drink tea . . . and how he strutted down the runway in a Paris fashion show. With facts about each place the cat visits included simply in the rhyming text, and in more detail at the end (including a map charting his route), this is sure to provide a great introduction to travel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307983466
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/26/2013
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

CAROLINE LAZO has written numerous biographies for children, including Alice Walker: Freedom Writer, which was a Society of School Librarians International (SSLI) Honor Book. This is her first picture book. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

KYRSTEN BROOKER’s wonderful books for children include Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia C. McKissack, an ALA Notable Book and a School Library Book of the Year, and Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street by Roni Schotter, a National Council of Teachers Notable Trade Book. She lives in Alberta, Canada.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 2- In simple rhyming text, a girl contemplates all that she will learn once her cat can talk to her. She knows that he wanders, and that he has secrets to share. She imagines him visiting faraway places, where he will witness local customs and answer burning questions, such as why the birds eat crumbs in San Marco Square, or if British cats do indeed drink tea. The girl may be an afterthought as her cat travels, but what he knows and internalizes is front and center in her mind. Brooker's illustrations, rendered in collage and oil paint, have the look and feel of a scrapbook. They fill the pages and are as big and bold as the girl's imagination. Maps on the endpapers show the imagined European voyages of the cat. "The Facts Behind the Story" presents some tidbits about some of the locales, but they seem unnecessary after such a fanciful journey. Rather, the book should be enjoyed as the whimsical daydream that it is.-Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA

Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Collage and oil paint whimsically animate this clever concoction of story-in-rhyme, geography, a young girl's fantasy and a traveling cat. "Someday when my cat can talk . . . . / He'll tell me how he hopped a ship / and where he stowed away. / He'll describe the wind that blew his fur / as he sailed beyond the bay." The endpapers list the 13 places on the cat's itinerary as he recalls the fog on England's coast, boasts of winning a prize for art in France, complains of the rabbits that chased him into Rome, crows about gondolas, salutes Greek athletes and remembers Holland's tulips; backmatter adds "Facts Behind the Story" for seven countries. But the charm lies in the artwork, which captures the trademark traits of each site from a feline point of view. The what-if title and appealing cover are sure to entice kids into imagining their own pets' forays. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews