My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World

by Gilles Bachelet

A new book in the vein of The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Seach of Whodunit and Elephant Elephant

Gilles Bachelet's cat behaves like any normal cat--sleeping, eating, getting in the way, making a mess--but in this warm and funny picture book he happens to be. . . a very large elephant. Whether he's keeping clean, playing with yarn, or posing for a portrait, this cat has his own unique way of doing things. Readers of all ages will delight in the whimsical and fun illustrations that accompany this "cat's" sweet and silly tale.

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

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Gilles Bachelet pasó su infancia en los Pirineos. Luego de dos años catastróficos en Paris, en los que frecuentó más el mercado de la rue Mouffetard que el Lycée Henri, sus padres lo mandaron a una pensión. Pasó los siguiente siete años con los sacerdotes y laicos del oratorio, en Saint Lô. En 1971 regresó a Paris y se incribió en la Facultad de Artes Decorativas. Allí pasó cinco años. A partir de 1977, comenzó a trabajar en la prensa impresa. Dejó la universidad cuando el trabajo empezó a aumentar. A partir de ese día, Gilles ejerce la profesión de ilustrador

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, the silliest book about cats in the world.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and very representative of cats...er, elephants.

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madi (Sister Baker) read this one aloud to the family. She loved it and they all agreed on 5 stars.

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky and offbeat humor. Enjoyable illustrations. Adults (especially those with pet cats) might get more of a kick out of this than their kids.

[Karen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book! It's all in the illustration. If you just read it out loud, it would be incredibly boring. But if you look at the pictures, it's amazing. Perhaps, as an illustrator, I'm biased. But this is a REALLY great book.

Okay, so you can tell by the cover that there's an elephant, not a cat, right? Well, throughout this whole book, he's talking about his cat as if he has no clue that it's actually an elephant. And the elephant acts like a cat.

At one point there's a picture where he draws an elephant skeleton, complete with superfluous bones in the trunk. Then on the next page, part of the illustration is a letter where he's responding to someone who's complained about him drawing bones in his cat's trunk. Which sounds weird. But it's great!

Delightful book!

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gilles Bachelet, My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World (Abrams, 2004)

Gilles Bachelet's cat may, in fact, be the silliest cat in the world. This may have a lot to do with the fact that it's actually an elephant. (This is not a spoiler given the cover picture.) Bachelet relates normal cat behavior, shows an elephant doing it. Voila! Humor. Cute book, recommended for families with both cats and young children. ***

[Audrey (Panda Littéraire) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐

[Nohemí González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly and enjoyable my daughter laughed a lot

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Harriet gets into her reading ruts I like to slip something in to her pile to mix things up a bit. When she was stuck on cats, I was delighted to find My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World by Gilles Bachelet.

If you just read the words, Gilles Bachelet's cat is like any other playful cat. The cat does all the things cats do. But there's an elephant in the room and yes, that pachyderm is the cat in question.

Harriet has a good sense of humor and a flair for the bizarre. An elephant being a cat was just her kind of book. Afterwards we went through a long list of other things that could possibly be cats but probably shouldn't (cows, giraffes, octopuses ...) be.

There are two more books in the series, When the Silliest Cat Was Small and Des nouvelles de mon chat which hasn't been translated from French yet. Fortunately I can read enough French to read a picture book!

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrator of this cute book is obviously unaware that the animal that he's describing as a cat is, in fact, an elephant. What makes this book so amusing is that, in the pictures, the elephant is doing all the things a cat does--scratching its ear with its hind leg, chasing a ball of yarn, sleeping in cozy places, pooping outside the litter box while standing in it (I've had some of those kind of cats!)... Finally we see the narrator, a young man, with a book about cats. Will he finally realize what his "cat" really is? This story, originally from France, is silly enough to please cat and elephant lovers. Recommended!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute and amusing, and, yes, a very silly book. It is appealing to both adults and children, although I think 4-8 year olds might find it particularly hilarious. There’s one page that has a letter that seems geared to more advanced readers/listeners than the rest of the book, but the entire book can be enjoyed by those of all ages.

[Jeana Wert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and i thought it would be a cute book to read to a group of young children. The pictures were colorful and cute. The author talks about his "cat" but in the pictures, an elephant is shown. It was funny to see the elephant trying to use the litter box and i think the children would really laugh at that, also.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book doesn't actually have a story. It's more like a really funny anecdote but the illustrations are truly awesome and go well with the bizarre humor (my kind of humor). A good example of what I mean is the third spread with the skeletal drawing and the letter.

[yexxo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilles Bachelet hat wie viele Menschen ein Haustier, eine Katze. Seine aber ist so ungewöhnlich, dass er ein Buch über sie gemacht hat: wie sie frisst, schläft, sich putzt usw. Alles nichts Besonderes, wenn diese Katze nicht riesig wäre und einen großen Rüssel hätte.
Das ganze Buch ist ein wunderbares Gedankenspiel 'Was wäre wenn ...". Kinder werden sicher keine Schwierigkeiten haben, sich darüber köstlich zu amüsieren ebenso wie Erwachsene, die sich auf dieses Spiel einlassen. Die Illustrationen sind ungemein liebevoll und witzig, insbesondere wenn diese riesige graue Katze versucht, sich in ihren Schlafplatz zu kuscheln oder genau ins Katzenklo zu treffen.
Ein wunderschönes Bilderbuch, dass man immer wieder gerne durchliest.

[Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

La page couverture ici dit tout ce que l'on a à savoir sur le récit. Je vous le confirme: ce n'est pas un chat! Et c'est hilarant à quel point l'auteur se confine dans sa certitude que l'animal qu'il a adopté est un chat (et non un éléphant). L'illustration prend toute l'ampleur de la page, ce qui permet à l'enfant de se perdre dans les détails de l'image. Un album à couper le souffle qu'il faut avoir lu une fois (j'imagine) dans sa vie!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly and fun, a good read aloud, but you need a more rowdy group of kids who aren't afraid to participate! This is definitely one to spend some time looking at the illustrations, which add to the humor.

[Caterina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, wise, the secret to happiness, really: it doesn't matter what others think of what you love (or how they name it, for that matter), as far as it makes you happy. One of my favorite books ever!

[Pau Blackonion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graciosisimo cuento infantil que gira alrededor de un equivoco: el autor tiene un elefante, no un gato.
Un elefante que se comporta como un gato con hilarantes resultados. Los niños adoran lo absurdo, yo tambien.

[Enno · Rating 3 out of 5]

We found this for my nephew and niece. It's hilarious!

[Savannah Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly story about a cat that very much resembles, moves, and acts like an elephant. My kids laughed when they saw the "litter box" and they loved the page with different colored "cats" available.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

So delightfully and obviously preposterous, as a non-cat goes through all kinds of cat behavior.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because this elephant gets a new toy on many occasions, but he kept giving it back.

[Margarida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro para todos os amantes de gatos.

[Aude Alexandre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gilles Bachelet est indemniablement mon auteur jeunesse préféré! Quelle merveille!

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

O conceito é original e engraçado. De uma ideia simples, nasceu uma história muito bem conseguida.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a silly book about a cat (elephant).

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute and silly. I loved the cat portraits, especially.

[Jordana Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pensé en mi gato mongo con este libro. Y recordé que no hay huesos en las trompas de gato.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cool and silly book with great illustrations. I enjoyed the story.

[Agathe 🧚🏻‍♀️🍧 · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’est marrant parce que c’est pas un chat hihihi