Review by Booklist Review
This entertaining and informative picture book, which showcases 38 different species of cats, is illustrated in a distinctive retro style, with a palette of orangey-brown tones that reflects its subject. Humorous chapter headings guide the text (Making a Meal of Things describes hunting techniques, Weird and Wonderful, their unique physical characteristics). The lively text details how wild cats were domesticated, as well as their habitats, diet, distinctive patterns and coloring, social life, and prominence in mythology. Size comparisons between cats are shown in large spreads, while fascinating facts like how the ridges on a cat's nose are as unique as a human's fingerprints are revealed. Pages of awards includes which cat has the loudest roar or strongest jaws, while the conclusion offers ways to help protect rare or endangered cats and their habitats. This uses the metric system and contains some British spellings, and a few unfamiliar words (moggie instead of cat) might confuse U.S. readers, but arresting artwork and fun facts make this memorable.--Rawlins, Sharon Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Following Smart About Sharks and Mad About Monkeys, Davey now lends his signature style to the world of cats, large and small. Davey's illustrations and design are phenomenal. Stylized images, done in a color palette of oranges and greens on heavy matte paper, evoke a chic, retro vibe. The artwork is so engaging that the text almost seems secondary, but in fact, a surprising amount of information is stuffed into 40 pages. Davey begins with introductory data such as what cats eat (anything with meat, even turtles and snakes) and basic feline anatomy (this section includes a clever diagram of retracted cat claws). Information gets more detailed and species-specific further on in the book. One memorable spread features a scale diagram of a human next to eight different cats (tigers are huge!). An index provides species nomenclature and world region. The only information that is slightly confusing is a chart of cat lineage. Readers looking for an accurate evolutionary tree may come to the conclusion that pumas are descended from modern tigers because of the layout. Overall, this book is a strong introduction to the cat family that can also serve as a great jumping-off point for further investigation about lesser-known types such as the caracal and jaguarundi. VERDICT A visual feast for all ages, this book melds amazing graphic design with fantastic facts to form a must-have for animal lovers and nonfiction collections.-Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An informational picture book explores the mammal family of felidscats. Author/illustrator Davey uses the same basic template as in Mad About Monkeys (2015) to explore the world of wild cats. The book begins with an overview (what cats are, their evolutionary lineages, and their habitats) then gets into specifics as it details the physiological attributes that make them such superb hunters (and shares the interesting fact that cats must eat meat to have their nutritional needs met). The "Featured Creatures" segments examine a few specific cats in more detail, which gives readers a break from generalities. A vast amount of factshunting adaptations, territory, reasons for fur coloration, kittens/cubs, and even cat mythologyare presented in a lively, organized, and entertaining manner. The wonderfully illustrated "To Scale" double-page spread, intended to show the comparative size of selected cats to a human, may need to be explained to nonmetric readers, since the scale across the top of the page could be interpreted by those unfamiliar with metric as showing that a meter is 6 inches long (all the measurements in this British import are metric). Davey's entertaining headings ("Eat, Prey, Hunt"; "Pride and Predators"; "Kitten Caboodle") are a delight. Finally, Davey ends with a statement that many cats are rare or endangered and offers readers accessible ways to help. There's lots going on here, and all of it good. (index) (Informational picture book. 5-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
