1. Happy Cats

Happy Cats. Catherine Amari and Anouk Han. Illustrated by Emi Lenox. 2021. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: white cat
black cat
blue cat
brown cat
high cat
low cat
always upside down cat
fluffed cat
bare cat
round cat
square cat
long cat
short cat
rarely-ever-there cat

Premise/plot: Plenty of cats can be found in Catherine Amri and Anouk Han's Happy Cats. This one is essentially an illustrated poem. The stars of the show are the cats themselves, perhaps. 

My thoughts: I love cats. I do. I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cats. Crazy about cat books as well. Most of the time. This one was so delightful. Not just because it stars cats. Not just because the illustrations are satisfying--they are though. No, I love this one so much because the rhythm and rhyme delight. Rhyme can prove challenging, but, it is so much easier to "get right" than rhythm. Rhyming can be accomplished with practice and effort. Rhythm, however, I think is more of a gift. Some rhyming books just lack all sense of rhythm. Other books just make it look absolutely effortless. Rhythm looks so effortless in this one. It is FUN. The rhythm of the text makes you WANT to read it aloud (even if you're alone). I also think the rhythm will help make this one appeal as an again-again.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers