My Cat Just Sleeps by Joanne Partis

My Cat Just Sleeps by Joanne Partis
Buy My Cat Just Sleeps by Joanne Partis at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: Funny and full of colourful, endearing pictures. Not just one for cat lovers!
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: February 2011
Publisher: OUP
ISBN: 978-0192731616
Share on:

The little girl in this story has a pet cat who she loves, but she's noticed that whilst her cat spends his days sleeping all her friends' cats seem to lead much more exciting lives, hunting and playing and climbing and fishing...she attempts to entice him into doing something active, but he sleeps through it all until, finally, she realises that even if he is very sleepy he's also warm and cuddly and affectionate and she loves him very much. But she still wonders what it is that makes him so sleepy...

This is such a sweet story. We're really more dog people than cat people in our house, but even I found a soft spot for this sleepy cat who manages to doze anywhere and everywhere! The language in the story is very simple, and the repetition throughout of my cat just sleeps works very well. We are introduced to usual cat behaviour (although rest assured there are thankfully no half eaten birds to be seen), and there is a laugh at each point as we see the little girl's cat who, despite cajoling, is still curled up sleeping, ignoring her attempts to encourage his inner cat!

The art work in the story is lovely. The pictures are clear and bright, and all the cats are terribly cute. I really like the page where she tries to get her cat to climb a tree, and we then see a picture of her cat draped over the branch, fast asleep! At the front and back of the book there are also two full page pictures of various different cats snoozing in unusual places. I think these pages were my daughter's favourite part of this book and at each read we stop and look at all the different cats, choosing our favourite (mine being the cat who is sleeping, stretched out inside a baguette sandwich!) Details like that make the book fun to return to over and over again.

At the end of the story the little girl goes to sleep, wondering why her cat is so tired all the time. We then have a series of frames that show us the cat checking the girl is asleep and then sneaking out of the house before a final full page spread that shows his night time activity (which I won't tell you so it will be a surprise!) This is simple enough (and short enough) for tiny tots to enjoy, but also works well for older toddlers who will be able to participate more in the cat-spotting and discussion of this cat's night time adventures!

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: For more feline fun try: The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr and The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr.

Please share on: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

You can read more book reviews or buy My Cat Just Sleeps by Joanne Partis at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy My Cat Just Sleeps by Joanne Partis at Amazon.com.

Comments

Like to comment on this review?

Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.