There Are Cats in This Book

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Rambunctious cats hide under flaps, waiting to play.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this book is full of flap-lifting fun, the kind very young readers will love. Though packed with mischief, it contains nothing harmful or scary.

What's the story?

Three cats named Tiny, Moonpie, and Andre pop in and out from behind movable flaps, all over the pages of this book, begging the "nice" reader to play with them. They pull out yarn, hit each other with feather-filled pillows, hide in boxes, fall into a fishbowl, and otherwise wreak havoc in the household.


Is it any good?

 

Who can resist playing with silly little kittens who flop and hide, jump, tangle themselves in yarn, and otherwise fill the room with merry mischief? Under flaps of various shapes these cats offer just that kind of fun, the kind young readers especially will enjoy. Of course, the clever format of Viviane Shwarz's book makes the experience all the more exciting and playful.

The title on the bright red cover promises cats, and they are peeking over the edge. On the second page, painted in a bold blue, a narrator, whose words look fresh off the old-fashioned typewriter, cautions that the cats are not "on this page," and so on until the reader finally finds them on the third page, purring contentedly under a quilt. But then the cats speak, and the mayhem begins. One red cat, one blue, and one yellow are painted in bright watercolors, then cut out and set into layered collages sprinkled with sparsely-placed word bubbles that challenge the reader to turn pages, throw the yarn, and even help fish a couple of them out of a fishbowl. As kids blow the dripping kittens dry (as they are asked to do), they will find themselves chuckling at this flap-lifting game...a great way to learn that reading is fun!


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about all the fun the cats are having as they lift flaps and play with the cats. If they have a cat, they can talk about all the silly things their cats do. If they do not, they can imagine what it would be like if playful cats got hold of a ball of yarn, started a pillow fight, hid out in boxes, or tumbled into the fishbowl. They might also enjoy talking about how the author created a book with so much action. How did she decide where to put the flaps? And how do the flaps beg the reader to play?


This review was written by Patricia Tauzer
Parent of 1, 1, 1, 26, 26, and 26 year old
December 1, 2009
 
perfect for 17 years and up
my 17 year old loves it when i read this to him at night.its one of his favorite books.i got it to him for Christmas and read it ever since.

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This review was written by Patricia Tauzer
Author:Viviane Schwarz
Illustrator:Viviane Schwarz
Book type:Fiction
Genre:Picture Book
Publisher:Candlewick Press
Publication date:November 25, 2008
Number of pages:48
Hardcover price:$16.99
Publisher's recommended age(s):2 - 5
Read aloud:2
Read alone:5

This review was written by Patricia Tauzer
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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