Inside Cat

How can one thing be smooth and rough, a feel and a smell, and red, green, and purple, too? Does the stone that “sat still…as it was where it was in the world” change or is it how different animals see it? Poetic language and softly lined and colored illustration combine to present a book about change and constancy, sure to generate discussion.

Say hello to a dazzling array of animals presented in intriguing groupings. Starting with “Hello Hello/Black and White” all the way to “…Roars,/Peeps, Chirps/and Chants/Hello Song,/and Hello Dance…” the bouncy, rhyming text and animated illustrations is sure to engage. A final note about the animals’ status and a key to who readers have greeted conclude the book.

From polar bears to owls, animals introduce shapes in one book (Hello Hello Shapes (opens in a new window)) while an axolotl to a zebra present color in another book (Hello Hello Colors (opens in a new window)). All animals — many endangered — are identified at the end of each sturdy book. 

As a cat walked through the world, “with its whiskers, ears, and paws…” a child, a mouse, a dog, and others see the cat — each from its own unique perspective. The mouse sees all claws and teeth, the worm sees echoes in the ground, and so on. The repeating refrain combines with original and stunning illustrations to create a book to examine multiple times.

Like children often do, this dog and cat take a most circuitous route home, encountering lots to see, smell, and hear along the way. Brief rhythmic, sometimes rhyming text accompanies this familiar adventure. Readers familiar with the author’s Inside Cat and They All Saw a Cat may recognize the styles and critters in this volume.