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, 15:15, 24 January 2014
{{infobox
|title=I am Cat (mini edition)
|author=Jackie Morris
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|genre=Emerging Readers
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781847805072
|pages=32
|publisher=Frances Lincoln Children's Books
|date=February 2014
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847805078</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1847805078</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|summary=Almost scandalously small, this reprinted picture book has both a heart and intelligence.
}}
You're always supposed to tell when a dog is dreaming – the twitching limbs and jerking joints allegedly proving the sleeping Fido is imagining himself on the chase. Cats are, as always, a bit more secretive, but [[:Category:Jackie Morris|Jackie Morris]] offers evidence here that they are more or less thinking the same thing – even the domestic moggy, curled up and closed in, is picturing a different self – one sleeking through snows, relaxing on the savannah or alertly moving through its territory. It's a very pleasant view into the mindset of cats.
It's a very small view, in this edition. I always riled as a child that pocket books were actually too big for pockets, but this reissue isn't. What would have been, and perhaps should still be, a large glorious picture book is now a small gift, wrapping its gentle words and poetry in wee hard covers. It's still big enough to contain two parts – the cat telling us of its dreams, as I say in a poetic manner – never naming each species of cat specifically, but engaging us with its situation; and an appendix where the characters are described and drawn more scientifically.
I'm not sure the images in the main body of work are that brilliant – I'm no cat owner, or artist, but for me the eyes stood out as working more effectively than the rest of the figures. I did like the quiet intelligence of the words, making this a great choice to use to introduce blank verse to a child, as well as perhaps biology as regards the family life of cats, and evolution – why does the cat dream of such contrasting kin? But you don't have to use this book, specifically, beyond the sheer enjoyment of it, and the simple, low-key wording makes for an affecting little work.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
We seriously enjoyed the author's more recent [[Song of the Golden Hare by Jackie Morris|Song of the Golden Hare]] - let's hope it stays in the large format!
{{amazontext|amazon=1847805078}}
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