That cat by Jacqueline Harvey. Illus. by Kate Isobel Scott
There is certainly nothing quite like a cat - all shapes and sizes, all personalities (usually big), a vast range of characteristics and always very self assured. In this engaging book Jacqueline Harvey takes a tongue in cheek look at a variety of cats. In rhyming lines she talks of fat cats, rat cats and bat cats. Then she offers a flat cat, a drat cat and a scat cat. Each cat is quite different and readers will delight in recalling the things which make that particular cat so definitive. Who has not seen a scat cat or a bat cat. Some will have sadly seen a flat cat and talk of their sorrow, while others will know the batman superhero well and relate to the bat cat. Some will have seen the destruction caused by a cat in their house and know all about the dreaded drat cat or scat cat. Rat cat gives readers the opportunity to retell the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, while mat cat parodies the popularity of exercise classes. All varieties of cat will cause smiles and laughter, sharing of stories and involving discussions, winning the audience over completely to this book of whimsy and playfulness.
Packing a punch the illustrations give a deeper level of humour to the spare words, allowing the readers to visualise the word used to describe each cat. Detail on every page will garb the reader as they laugh, recognising different cats’ traits. The detail pokes fun at the human parallels of each cat’s background. The cafe society for example shows a couple seated outside the cafe, check tablecloth, being offered fish and chips by the flamboyant waiter.
Working in the animation industry over the world, more can be found about Scott on her website. Harvey was Scott’s teacher at kindergarten a meeting which has resulted in this winning book, sure to please all kids young and old. Jacqueline Harvey wrote the Alice Miranda books amongst many others, That cat being her 49th publication.
Themes: Friendship, Cats, Humour.
Fran Knight
