They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel
A housecat walks “through the world, with its whiskers, ears and paws…”, and is seen, first by a child, and then a dog, and then a fox.
But the cat looks different to each of them. To the fox, it looks chubby and perhaps tasty; to the dog, skinny and suspicious; to the child the cat is wide eyed and inviting. The book’s refrain runs again, and again: “and the mouse saw A CAT, and the bee saw A CAT. Yes, they all saw the cat.
This multi-layered book is ideal for joint storytimes with older and younger children. For young toddlers, it’s a great one for completion prompts – where you pause and let your toddler finish your sentence to encourage them to use more words during storytime (you say, “and the child saw a…[pause]”; they say, “CAT!”). For older children, you might discuss perception and subjectivity.
2017 Caldecott Honor winner.
Recommended age: 2-6
