The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From Booklist

October 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 2 When Girl adopts Cat from the mobile pet shelter, everything is initially wonderful. But then, rules come along--no scratching the window screen, no chasing the baby--and Cat decides to quit. Cat escapes into the darkness of the outdoors, where the trees are full of peering eyes, and between the night chill and the rain, Cat soon realizes that they may have made a mistake. Returning home after quitting is the best decision ever. The story uses sparse but beautiful phrases to tell a concise and charming story of friendship, stubbornness, and the value of modifying bad behavior. The digital artwork is packed with fun Easter eggs (the most giggle-worthy being a father on Zoom wearing a business shirt and boxers) and uses color effectively to delineate between the pastel-happy home and the tense blue-and-black expanse of night. While much of the humor of the story is expressed in cheeky spot illustrations, the illustrator creates powerful drama through double-page spreads of Cat's face in their moment of behavioral realization and discovery.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From School Library Journal

September 20, 2024

PreS-Gr 1-This book follows the well-known plot of leaving home to find one's way in the world, and then returning after having learned some important truths. Only in this case, the tale centers around a cat. When the cat is adopted by a family, life improves dramatically. Not only is the cat surrounded by soft spots, but it "snacked like a queen." Life was good-very, very good-until the rules came. No scratching window screens and no chasing the baby. "Bad Kitty" quits and leaves, but it's terrible out there-dark and scary, cold and rainy. This is a very appealing book. The artwork is bold and attention-grabbing, with large, detailed illustrations that support and add to the text. The story, told from the point of view of the cat, is familiar-learning to adjust to the rules of living with others. VERDICT This book will be sure to promote responses from young children and spark lots of conversation. A combination of eye-catching illustrations and a cat's narrative perspective make this a fine choice for reading and sharing.-Myra Zarnowski

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

August 1, 2024
A recently adopted cat is living luxuriously until the strict house rules force the "bad kitty" to quit. Waiting for adoption is a sad reality for the cat until a young girl spots her and takes her home to bask across chairs, sofas, and freshly folded laundry. Everything is peachy until the cat realizes there are rules: No eating bread, no chasing the baby, no fun. The cat decides to quit and finds herself outside in the dark, with no warmth and nothing soft to sleep on. Rescued from the outdoors by her owner, she happily returns home. In a classic tale of "the grass is always greener," this feline realizes that life is much better at home than out in the wilderness. The cat is orange with a black striped tail, and the illustrations are mostly from her perspective. The standout images are the nighttime scenes, such as one of the cat peering out the window, backlit in orange. Readers who are paying attention will get a kick out of how the illustrations show the cattechnically following the rules (she doesn't eat the bread, but spilled kibble is free game!), and cat owners everywhere will relate to the antics of this fickle feline. Human characters are light-skinned. An eye-catching and enjoyable ode to cats, in all their mischievous glory.(Picture book. 3-6)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.