They All Saw a Cat
Chronicle Books / Raincoast Books
By Brendan Wenzel
44 pages
age 3 to 5
Synopsis from Raincoast Books:
The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . . In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?”
If you were to ask kids to draw a cat, they would all probably all have the basics covered: four legs, a tail, whiskers and those upright triangle ears. But even if they were to all draw the same cat, the images would not be identical. The drawings would be influenced by their perception. That’s the premise of They All Saw a Cat (affiliate link).
The picture book follows a cat as it heads out for a walk, spied by many along his path. While the copy is minimal and repetitive, the illustrations are bold and unique. The images portray how various creatures see the cat. A fish see two big eyes peeking into the bowl. A mouse sees glowing eyes and bright white claws and teeth. A flea sees mounds of fur. The illustrations are fun, taking over the whole page. These images reinforce the idea that what you or I or your child sees, even if looking at the same thing, can be varied. I love how They All Saw a Cat can encourage more descriptive dialog too, discussing the details and how each person focuses on different things depending on their point of view or experience. A great concept to help with empathy and understanding too as kid.
You can get an inside peek to this book in the following video review, published on our Youtube channel every Wednesday:
You can find a copy of They All Saw a Cat (affiliate link) from Chapters Indigo, Raincoast Books or your local bookstore. Visit our Kid’s Books section for other great book recommendations.