That Cat Can't Stay
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- USD 7.99
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- USD 7.99
Descripción editorial
2011 Honor Title, Stories for Young Listeners category, Storytelling World Resource Awards
Smithsonian's 2010 Notable Books for Children
Chosen as a Society of School Librarians International Honor Book 2010
Narrated by a cat-loving little girl, this story is a hysterical romp through a family's pet adoption dilemma. Poor Dad does not like cats, and he voices his opposition to the steady stream of stray cats that always seem to wind up on his doorstep—thanks to a cat-loving Mom who wants to save every stray she finds. In an effort to win Dad over, the little girl hides a tiny stray kitten in her hood and convinces Dad to just give it one small squeeze. Dad manages, with trepidation, to stick out his pinkie and pet the creature. But now that five cats have taken over his favorite chair, he becomes desperate and makes a visit to the pound. Dad returns happily with a big, fat puppy—everyone gets something that they want. With hilarious ink and watercolor illustrations, this picture book demonstrates the resourcefulness, love, and compromises of a pet-loving family.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this light comedy, the creators of I Always, ALWAYS Get My Way again spotlight family dynamics. Energetic rhymed couplets relay how Mom and kids repeatedly bring home stray cats, driving Dad crazy. With each new arrival, he launches into a chorus of reasons why he doesn't like cats ( They scratch my knees./ They carry fleas./ They make me sneeze./ They're always getting stuck in trees ) and decrees that the stray must go. After tactically agreeing with her husband, manipulative Mom describes what dreadful fate will befall the feline if they don't take it in, and Dad reluctantly relents, still insisting, futilely, that cat can't stay. Parkins's high-spirited cartoons depict animals and humans with amusingly exaggerated facial expressions, especially the exasperated father who, with his multiple tantrums and ever-present shorts and sneakers, far more resembles an overgrown toddler than a patriarch. While the verse veers into doggerel territory in its bounciness ( I see you do not want this pet/ though he might get completely wet ), the buffoonlike father's antics should prove kid-pleasing. Ages 4 8.
