Scat cat I can read: children's book

by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

"Scat, cat!" said the dog.
"Scat, cat!" said the bird.
"Scat, cat!" said the other cats.
"Go home."

When a small cat is lost, he walks and walks. He walks through city and country, and if someone tells him to scat, he just keeps walking. Will the cat find a home?

From the author of "Biscuit" comes a simple, appealing text--brought to life in Paul Meisel's art--perfect for the youngest of readers. This small cat is sure to receive a warm welcome from small children!

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

16 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 19, 2010

About the author

Alyssa Satin Capucilli was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, and pursued her interest in dance, becoming a professional dancer and dance instructor. Though Capucilli had written stories, poems, and even puppet shows as a child, she didn't consider a career as a writer until after her own two children were born. To this day she sees herself as both a dancer and a writer, and the two professions complement each other nicely: dancing is, in her words, “telling stories in another way,” and readers of her children's books can attest to the rhythm of her language. Since 1994, she has written more than 15 books for children, and her work has been translated into French, Hebrew, Afrikaans, Greek, and Bulgarian.

Capucilli lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with her husband and children. They have a chocolate Labrador retriever named Huckleberry, who likes to watch the author at work.

Reviews

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book with repetitive words throughout. Good for kindergarten age kids with a little assistance from an adult.

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

~ borrowed from the Library

SCAT, CAT! by Alyssa Capucilli (of BISCUIT fame) is at the beginning First Grade reading level. The text consists 226 words.

Here's some text from two pages:

There was a cat.
It was a small cat.
It was a striped cat.

It was a lost cat.
The cat walked and walked.

The rest of the book consists of of dogs, cats, bakers, barbers, and other critters and people telling kitty to SCAT! The small cat ends up sitting on a chair and being greeted by a boy with food in hand in the morning.

~
The artwork in this book is cute and appealing. The story will probably appeal to young children, but personally it got me down. It probably doesn't pay to over-analyze a children's primer (lol) but that's a lot of rejection.

This book would actually be a good one to share with little ones. There are quite a few animals to point out, and careers to introduce. Animals include dogs, cats, pidgeons, duck, geese, frog, owl, bat and more. People include the barber and baker mentioned previously, as well as a bus driver.

I thought the ending was strange. It sort of runs contrary to the idea we were given that the kitten has no home. Again, too much analysis is a silly thing.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a cat trying to find his way home.

[Drew Slanina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Scat, Cat is a basic, and beginning reading level book for children. This book is based on a cat trying to find its way home. A long the way, the cat encounters numerous people and animals that tell the cat to go home. The cat eventually finds its way home to his owner. The story is good, because it uses repetitive words that allow the child to repeat, and memorize the words in the story.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very cute. I think that it would be hard for me to recommend it to anyone because I don't like sad things. The majority of the book is sad. Being true to YA, it has a happy ending. "Scat" is a good vocab word and rhyming word for cat.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great early ready book with repetitive and easy words. Perfect for Kindergarten and early first grade readers. Easy problem and solution so my three year old had a lot to say while retelling it.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie enjoyed reading this to me.

[Ryder Betschart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the cat getting together with the boy. (Ryder 5)

[Marissa Sansone]

Title: Scat, Cat!
Author: Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Illustrator: Paul Meisel
Genre: Predictable Book
Theme(s): Rhyming, Home, Family
Opening line/sentence:
There was a cat.
It was a small cat.
It was a striped cat.
Brief Book Summary: The cat in the book is lost and cannot find his home. He looks around, and all of the animals he finds tell him to “scat, cat!” In the end, he finds his home and is happy again.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: (Horn Books)
32 pp. HarperCollins/Harper 2010.
(3) K-3 Illustrated by Paul Meisel. I Can Read Book series. The protagonist is told: "Scat, cat!" by all the other animals he encounters; he walks and walks until he comes to a house, where he curls up on the porch and goes to sleep. In a satisfying twist, it turns out that he has returned home. Simple vocabulary and lots of repetition combine with warm, expressive illustrations to tell an engaging story.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: (CLCD)
Caroline Phelan (Booklist, Dec. 15, 2010 (Vol 107, No. 8))
This book for beginning readers starts in a promising way, with short words, short sentences, and plenty of repetition. There was a cat. / It was a small cat. / It was a striped cat. / It was a lost cat. Everyone who sees it says, Scat, cat! And the cat moves on, walking through town and encountering the dog, the pigeon, the barber, the baker, the school-bus driver, and so on (and on). After nightfall, the cat meets several nocturnal animals before curling up on a porch and falling asleep. In the morning, a boy opens the door and welcomes his cat home with a food dish. The brief encounters enable readers to concentrate on decoding without having to remember plot twists, and the final scene is quite satisfying. Meisels simple, in-and-watercolor illustrations have their own scruffy charm, particularly for animal lovers. A pleasant title from the My First (shared reading) level of the I Can Read series. Grades K-1.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews are relatively positive. They commend not only the charming story and illustrations, but also the way in which the book is written. It is easy for young readers to understand, and the book ends in the way that you want it to.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book is a good book for young readers. It is predictable, and the plot is not hard to follow. The pictures are colorful, and the ending is satisfying. There are not too many words on each page, so it does not overwhelm readers.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book could be used in the classroom when the students are learning about rhyming. The words are not too hard for young students, and they do not have to analyze too deeply into the words to understand the meaning that the writer is trying to get across. The children will not only love the pictures, but they will be happy when the cat finds his home. Also, this book could be used when students are talking about their homes. The cat is on a search for his home the whole time, and students could talk about their favorite parts about home.

[Alli Serrano]

This book is about a small, striped cat that accidentally adventures away from home. He walks and he walks meeting many other animals and people, as well as visiting many different places. Every single time the animals or people yell “Scat, Cat!” and the cat continues to walk. He wanders around until he finds a little house, where he decides to cuddle up and is greeted the next morning from a little boy. This time was different.
As this book had no rhyming like most other young kids book, it was still intriguing for this age group. From beginning to end, the use of repetition was major. The cat would walk, then meet someone new, they would say “Scat, Cat!”, and then he would walk again, with the process starting over and over again. This is great for kids because they become familiar with the story and can make their own judgments by the end of what will likely happen. There were plenty of pictures with very little white space that supported the text. As well, the message it represents for children is inspirational. It shows the importance of a persons home, love, and family. With the happy ending, it provides closure for the kids.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scat, Cat is about a lost cat who is unwelcome in place after place before finally finding his way home again.

This book, part of the I Can Read- Shared Reading series, is a great book for beginning readers. The words and sentence structures are repetitive, the illutrations provide visual clues for unknown words, and the ending is satisfying.

I would recommend this for primary students learning to read.

[Brittany Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loved this book that was full of repetitive words that he could pick up and learn. The art work was cute and was excellent for toddlers. As always Alyssa has left my son wanting more of her fabulous work. I am truly grateful to writers who can write a great picture book with a good message. The message of how comforting it is to come home and be loved was so powerful in this short book. My son gives it two thumbs way up. I hope she writes more about the cat.

[Sharlet Mullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about one cats’ adventure around the town. Everyone he encounters tells him to scat! Until night rolls around and he finds his home. This book has short words, short sentences, and plenty of repetition.

[❤Marie Gentilcore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to the kids tonight as part of story time. They both enjoyed it and felt a lot of sympathy for the poor little cat who everyone he met kept saying, "scat cat." The kids were glad that it all ended happily.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curtis read this to me out loud. He'd never seen it before, and he got 90% of the words right. I'm so proud!! :-)

[Amanda_DJ n' Zac · Rating 5 out of 5]

my 4 yr old read this to me before bed last night! very cute! The words used make it good practice and he loved that he knew the words through the whole book!

[Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great early reader. But, we did think that the cat had a hard time of it. You were able to guess the ending.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good learn to read

[Allison]

I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you: http://www.indiebound.org

[The Wee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple book. But my kids loved saying Scat Cat!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book for starting readers, repetitive wording, nice to practice different sounds.. used this book as an excerise for my daughter to practice for speech.

[Cin-Ru · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book is sad and the people were rude to the cat. I don't know why people say he is a scary cat. But at the back, good things happen.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though the ending was good, most of the book was just sad. Poor kitty cat!

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't a bad book. Same author but I like Biscuit better.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat searches for a place to call home.

[Maria]

This cat goes all over town trying to find something to do! Everywhere he goes, he hears, "Scat, Cat!" Nobody seems to want him around. The dog says it, the barber, the baker, and even the other cats! He finally finds a house and decides to curl up on the chair on the front porch. He slept there the whole night and loved it. When he woke up, there was a boy there bringing him food. He was so glad to be home!

I really enjoyed this book because it was simple but very cute.

I would use this for kids learning to read or struggling readers.