Cat

by Mike Dumbleton, Craig Smith (Illustrator)

A cat's life is not all fun and games. Sometimes things can get a little hairy!

Genres: Picture Books, Cats, Childrens, Animals, Storytime

30 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Mike Dumbleton is a writer and Literacy Consultant. He has worked in South Australian High Schools, New York City Schools and as a Literacy Curriculum Officer for the South Australian Education Department. In addition to children’s books, he has written a range of educational texts.

Part of his interest in writing stems from the fact that his grandfather was a local poet in an Oxfordshire village in England, who regularly recited his poems to the family, with or without requests!

Mike came to Australia with his wife Linda in 1972. He was always interested in writing but a young family and many sporting activities kept him fully occupied until he decided he wasn’t getting any better at basketball and his three children were old enough to allow him some uninterrupted time. He then began writing picture books at the same time as devising educational texts for teachers.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an alright book. Interesting illustrations. Lots of repetition, but I guess it works. I just wasn't a big fan of this book. It's a lot of one word text and the sentence "Thank goodness for that". I guess I wish it had more text than the one word text, but I get why it didn't have more text.

[Kristen Thorp · Rating 3 out of 5]

241/365

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple book with very little text, but some great opportunities for observation and inference.

[Lara Bate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read "Once upon my Legs" by Mike Dumbleton. It is a book about how babies use their legs in the first year of life.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. The cat chases stuff. Stuff chases the cat. With okay art.

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book has a pretty simple text - mostly single nouns (cat, dog, mouse, sprinkler, bird). Mike Dumbleton has done amazing work in telling an exciting story with such a simple vocabulary.

Given the very spartan text, the illustrations take up the mantle and do the bulk of the storytelling.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple text accompanies the situations this cat gets into. A lot of repetition of words and funny outcomes.
"A cat's life is not all fun and games... Sometimes things can get a little...hairy!"--Cover.

[Kate Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture book with one or two words per page.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh! I was hoping for more from this one. I know that repetition is so good for the kids, but errggg. I love the illustrations of the kitty though.

[Tina B · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Cats, day in life of cat, almost a wordless book"

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

great for my four year old... easy to sound out

[Nicole Sandford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and great pictures. Preps.

[Michelle Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Themes: cats, animals

[The Loco Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great repetition, rhyming, and visual cues for the simple text. Great for beginning readers.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a lot of words but well used.