Book: They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel

This fun cat-centric book is all about the illustrations. The author, who is primarily an illustrator, pairs simple, repetitive prose with varying and interesting illustrations to tell a story about perception. A cat goes about his day encountering others who all see him a bit differently. While the majority of the text merely states who is seeing the cat, the illustrations take the reader on a journey ranging from a child’s perspective to a bird’s eye view. Each one is bright and interesting, and all slightly different in both perspective and style.

I also love that this book can be versatile in its purpose and easy to interact with. The patterned text makes this great for early readers, but it also makes a great read aloud with the stunning illustrations to show off. It is also a great book to start some discussion around perspective taking, and helping children to see that not everyone views the world in the same way as them. The differences in style used in the illustrations could also be a good jumping off point for an art lesson: what do the colors and textures tell you about each view of the cat, and why did the author choose to portray the cat in that particular way?

Boris’s Thoughts: “I also see a cat. Oh, 4 paws, I suppose. I must appreciate an author who appreciates me!”