How to Train Your Human: A Cat's Guide

by Babas, Katherine Gregor (Translator)

A witty and winsome new way of looking at the complex relationship between cats and through the eyes of one erudite and attentive Italian gatto. We live on a planet infested with humans. They are a pernicious species, yet undeniably clever and capable—even if the reasons behind their actions are often incomprehensible to us felines. But while it is true that there have never been so many primates on Earth, in reality, they are quite simple to teach using well-practiced domestication techniques, such as loud vocalizations, strategic nighttime alarms, and selective displays of affection. And if you choose your specimen carefully, you’ll find that it can be completely tamed, and you'll end up with the best, most faithful companion you could possibly wish for. Andrea Ferolla’s elegant illustrations make this helpful guide a feast of fancies for the eyes—the perfect gift for the cat lover in your life. Translated from the Italian by Katherine Gregor  

Genres: Humor, Cats, Animals, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Contemporary, Audiobook

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2022

Reviews

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo)]

“Dogs are to humans, what humans are to Cats”

Our author, an Italian cat, named Babas, explains that although cats are a notch higher than humans, the world is dominated by humans, so it’s imperative to choose one wisely.

The “right” human, if well trained, can be an affectionate and loyal companion even if they are nomadic primates.

Follow this manual carefully and you will become the absolute monarch of the home and with just a few practiced looks, several specific vocalizations, and strategic shows of affection-your human will be waiting on you, hand and foot. ( shouldn’t that be PAW?)

And, the ideal human will NEVER, EVER take advantage of their gigantic size to scoop you up in a coercive embrace!

Translated from Italian by Katherine Gregor, with elegant illustrations by Andrea Ferolla, this 144 page novella can be read it one sitting and had me wondering if my own cat EMMA had read this manual!! 🤔

Although I hope she doesn’t refer to me as her primate, (didn’t care for that term or find it amusing) she has mastered the art of pointing at her food bowl with one delicate paw when hungry, and waiting patiently by the sliding glass patio door when she would like to go outside to soak up some sun ☀️ on my cushioned chaise lounge. 😽

I would have preferred if the manual had been more succinct and the gorgeous illustrations more plentiful.

Available Now

Thank You to HarperVia for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.

[Maede]

لونا گربه‌ی دوستم چند روزی مهمون من بود و ما رابطه‌مون اصولاً خیلی خوبه. شب اما به نشونه‌ی اعتراض کلی میو میو کرد و تا صبح نگذاشت بخوابیم. صبح وقتی اومد خودش رو کنارم پهن کرد که نازش کنم، بهش اعلام کردم که من باهاش حسابی قهرم و بهتره بره یه جا قایم بشه که چشمم بهش نیوفته.

این کتاب رو چند روز قبلش شروع کرده بودم و اون روز صبح هم همینطور که بداخلاق و غرغر کنان صبحونه درست می‌کردم بهش گوش می‌کردم که مودم بهتر بشه. گربه‌ی متخصص کتاب داره به همه گربه‌های دیگه یاد میده که چطور انسانشون رو تربیت کنن. اول برای گربه‌ها راجع به انسان‌ها توضیحات کلی میده و بعد بهشون نکات عملی یاد میده

به طرز خنده‌داری گوش دادن به قسمت‌هایی که مربوط به خر کردن انسان‌ها بود با تلاش‌های لونا برای آشتی کردن با من همزمان شد. انگار داشتم توصیه‌های کتاب به گربه‌ها رو به صورت عملی می‌دیدم. آخر بهش گفتم لونا تو هم داری اینو گوش میدی که اینجوری داری خودت رو برام لوس می‌کنی؟ یا تو اصلاً خودت این رو نوشتی؟ خلاصه که خندم گرفت و مجبور شدیم آشتی کنیم

کتاب رو می‌تونید از اینجا دانلود کنید
Maede's Books

۱۴۰۳/۵/۱۴

[Raymond]

A short little book that speaks about the relationship between cats and other animals, specifically humans. Most of the jokes in book are from the premise that humans are stupid & easily manipulated. I think all the chapters were meant to be funny, but the silly human jokes grew tiresome & repetitive after the first couple of chapters. Thank god this little novel was only 130 pages, lol.

[Eylül Görmüş]

"Göreceksin ki birçok insan tam bir top delisidir. Bu insanlar bir top (küçük, yuvarlak bir nesne) temin eder ya da üretir. Sonra onu sana doğru fırlatırlar. Bu topu yakalamanı ya da geri atmanı beklerler. Top senin ellerine geçince de senden alıp tekrar atarlar. Bazen de onu saklarla ve bulmanı isterler. Eğer seni çok fazla sıkmıyorsa, arada sırada bu oyuna eşlik edebilirsin. Bu onları çok mutlu eder."

Babas isimli bir kedi tarafından kaleme alınmış "İnsanını Nasıl Eğitirsin" son derece eğlenceli, kafa dağıtmalık bir minik kitap. Adından ve yukarıdaki alıntıdan anlayacağınız üzere kediler için bir insan eğitme rehberi bu. Kitap boyunca kedilere "primat" olarak tanımlanan insanları nasıl tavlayabilecekleri, onları nasıl idare edecekleri, onları beraber yaşarken nasıl yönetebilecekleri konusunda tavsiyeler veriyor Babas, bu tavsiyelerin pek çoğu da epeyce komik takdir edersiniz ki.

Andrea Ferolla'nın çizimleriyle zenginleşen kitabı sevdim ama umduğum kadar da başarılı bulmadım maalesef. Fikir bence şahane, uygulama bir parça daha iyi olabilirdi. Elbette insanı sık sık gülümsetiyor kitap ama bence çok daha iyi yazılabilir ve çok daha komik olabilirmiş. İşte böyle.

[Cheri]

How to Train Your Human is shared through the view of a cat, or cats collectively. So if you were thinking that this was a book to learn how to change your husband, wife, or child/children (which I was not) this is not that book, although you might consider asking your cat - providing you have one - if this would be a book you might enjoy.

I’ve had cats or a cat for most of my life, and according to this book, we humans seem to perplex our feline friends. I only have one cat at the present time, she is the oldest among the members of my family, the ones who live in my home, anyway, and outnumbered by my dogs. When I first brought her home after seeing her photo online I only had my Golden Retriever. It was love at first sight for my Golden, and Paisley used to sleep on her. They were the best of friends. She was still a kitten, and this year she will be 18. Hard for me to believe. But reading this made me wonder just how much our feline friends question us humans, and the things we do.

This has a quirky charm to it, at times, and a shared with a fairly lighthearted tone to it, but it still manages to be thought provoking, at times. I loved how it showed how easily we are so easily trained by our cats to do their bidding.

This is a quick read, and an amusing one, at times, but I’m glad that Paisley can’t read and if there is an audio copy for this book, that I did not opt for that. So far, I’m convinced she isn’t much of a reader, unless it’s the cover on cat food or treats, but you never know with cats…


Pub Date: 02 Apr 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by HarperVia

[Noe herbookss]

Gatos del mundo, si queréis tener esa vida que sabéis que os merecéis, con un humano totalmente domesticado que os sirva y esté a vuestra completa disposición para cumplir vuestros deseos y antojos... debéis leer este libro. Os ofrecerá un sinfín de consejos, técnicas y métodos para entender, adiestrar y entrenar correctamente a vuestro humano y, con un poco de suerte, conseguir también al mejor y más fiel compañero.

Aunque si eres un humano también te encantará leer este libro. Por fin vas a comprender los peculiares y, a veces, extraños comportamientos del gato que te ha elegido, y descubrir desde sus propios ojos cómo te ve él a ti. Te aseguro que te vas a reír con el tono irónico y las ocurrencias que tiene este manual, porque te darás cuenta de que estos felinos tienen toda la razón.

Y además la edición no puede ser más bonita, con un montón de ilustraciones gatunas adorables y divertidas.

Si te encantan estos singulares animales y/o compartes hogar con uno o varios gatos necesitas leer esto. Y si no es para ti seguro que conoces a alguien a quien se lo tienes que regalar.

[Maria Lavrador]

Os humanos do ponto de vista dos gatos e como eles nos "encantam" para entrarem na nossa vida e nos roubarem o coração... e o lugar no sofá :)

[Ravnica]

Feel like I just read my cats' memoirs

[Ana]

Um guia para gatos sobre como estabelecer o seu domínio sobre os Humanos. Muito divertido e muito realista.

[Amarie Fernández]

Los perros son para los humanos, lo que lo humanos para los gatos 😅😅

[Inesbirrento]

Delicioso para crazy cat ladies como eu!

[Raquel]

Michis, em tenen la patata robada❤️🐱😼🐈

[Inês Sousa]

3,5🌟

[Sandra Koka (pielasit_sirdi)]

Gan jau, ja esi kaķu mīlis/mīlulis kaķiem, tad šī sajūsmina. Gan ņau. Ņau ņau.

Bet man bija ļoti garlaicīgi.

Laikam jau cilvēka dzīve ir tieši tik garlaicīga, jo nekas jau nenotiek.

Ilustrācijas ar tušu (?) gan man ļoti patika, gribētos vēl un vēl.

Varbūt man vienkārši vajag kaķi. Ņau

[María Lp]

Está bien para pasar un rato entretenido. Si tienes gato te hará sospechar por momentos si ha sido el que ha escrito este manual.

[Sue Em]

Beware, all persons living with cats, do NOT give them access to this book. I have always suspected they gather and share tips on the best ways to manipulate is. But here it, is a full-fledged manual on training us. From mealtimes to bedtimes, this manual fully explains tactics for garnering the most and best treats from us with clarity. Some would call this extremely humorous. I personally find it frightening. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Potato]

Antes de haber convivido con gatos no habría disfrutado tanto del libro, probablemente le habría puesto menos estrellas. La lectura me ha estado recordando constantemente vivencias que he tenido con mis tres gatos y la ha vuelto una experiencia muy personal. Las ilustraciones son preciosas.

[Laura laura_lasa]

Oriģināli no kaķu skatu punkta, tomēr daudz par maz teksta, kas aizpildīti ar baltiem tukšumiem!

[Bunny]

Perhaps the meaning of thingitis could be attributed to the fact that human life is very long and they don't know what to do with it.

I don't think I'd ever truly realized how well trained I have been by cats until reading this book.

I don't know if I appreciate being called out so boldly by this book.



I don't know what I expected going in, this was definitely a title grab more than anything else. But it is truly written from the perspective of a cat, living in this often nonsensical human dominated world.

This book is genuinely humorous, and it will make you doubly appreciate your furry feline overlord.

Also, tortoises rule. So say the cats and who are we to question it?

Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Elisabetta Di Cicco]

Per chi ha un gatto, leggere questo libro sembrerà come avere finalmente le risposte ai numerose domande emerse ogni volta che provavamo a capire perché il nostro figlioccio felino si fosse comportato in una certa maniera. Ma non solo.

Questo libro è infatti illuminante anche per gli appassionati, per chi guarda i gatti da lontano e vuole cercare di comprenderli.
Il punto di vista è solamente il loro, dei gatti. Noi, i loro "schiavi", siamo l'oggetto della loro analisi.

Un libro scorrevole, divertente e molto piacevole!

[Chani]

Il est évident que mes chats l'ont lu avant moi 😅

[Mackenzie]

Queen Mama and I enjoyed the humor! I read this to her. She is my sassy tortoiseshell Queen and could write her own 📚 about life as royalty! 👑😻🐾

[anti]

4⭐️ Cómo domesticar a un humano es básicamente un manual de instrucciones para gatos… y una advertencia para humanos ilusos. Es corto, absurdo y me he reído bastante. Si tienes gatos, te gustará.

[Zaferino]

Received an advanced copy for free in return for an honest review.

It’s cute and informative. The translator did a great job of keeping the tone to be a mock informative guide. I have read translated books before and I felt like this one was very well done. The humor was very much intact. I was having a lot of fun while reading. I really enjoyed how the cats were not made out to be evil but more mischievous or confused by human actions. The illustrations were cute but honestly I didn’t understand why they were in the book. I wish they had captions or showed a scene from the book. In all, a short and fun informative guide which every cat owner can relate with and every cat can learn from.

[Rick]

This is hilarious. Much more entertaining than Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, which is cute, but was quite lacking and dated in a lot of ways. This one still doesn’t quite grasp the feline perspective as it attempts to view feline behavior through the lens of human perception and perspective. Still, it is hilarious.

[Noa Hendrix]

Me imagino a mi Ori y mi Lily haciendo un estudio de campo para poder escribir este libro, con una visión antropológicamente divertida.

Es un libro divertido, que nos señala también alguna incongruencia y nos limita a lo que es importante.

Un libro lleno de ternura e indispensable para aquellas personas que estén sometidas (claramente) a su michi o sus michis.

[Susy Santos]

O conceito é engraçado mas o que pensei ser uma leitura para rir, acabou por ser mais um " sim as minhas gatas fazem isto ou não fazem"
Esperava mais deste pequeno livro.
As ilustrações são engraçadas.

[Sagiwi]

Libricino immancabile per chi ha un gatto o è amante dei felini.
Leggero e divertente mi ha fatto capire che sono stata completamente addomesticata.

[Lorena Pedrajas López]

Es un libro muy simpático y las ilustraciones son magníficas.

[Marta]

Engraçado e muito real ahah