112. Cat Problems

Cat Problems. Jory John. Illustrated by Lane Smith. 2021. [August] 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Where's that sunbeam going? HEY! SUNBEAM! GET BACK HERE! Great. Now I'm wide awake and I only got nineteen hours of sleep. Sigh.

Premise/plot: The star of this picture book has a lot to complain about....apparently! Essentially every spread of this one features his many, many, many, many complaints and "problems." Including problems with the other house cat, problems with his human in regards to FOOD, and let's not mention the monster--the vacuum cleaner!

In one spread, he is voicing his complaint about where the other house cat is sitting:

You're in my spot. That's where I curl up, sometimes. Now you're in my other spot. Now you're in my third spot. I think that cat might be my greatest enemy in the entire house.

In another spread,

Yo! Those meows meant I wanted wet food. Not dry food. Wet food. You get it? NOT dry food. WET FOOD! Not dry food. WET FOOD. Let's try this again....mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww! mraowww!

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one! I think it would make a good read aloud. In fact, I think it might be one of those books that HAS to be read aloud to really and truly shine. I enjoyed the narrative quite a bit. I think there's room for parents (teachers, librarians, grandparents, etc.) to play around with the text and make it spectacular with dramatic voices and effects.

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers