What a marvellous book for all cat lovers big and small!
Marta Pantaleo, an Italian graphic designer and illustrator, has created a fun fact-filled picture book to delight young children.
There is no story just lots of intriguing history about human/cat interaction. We start with ancient times when they helped farmers keep pests away. Off course the Egyptians get a full double page spread before moving on to many other peoples around the world, Romans, Vikings, Indians and more.
We are told they feature in myths and legends, superstitions and heroic tales. The last part describes the people/cat relationship today – concluding that they are still creatures of mystery, ‘it isn’t easy to figure out what is really going on in their heads’.
This picture book is aimed at ages 3 to 6, (although younger children will enjoy exploring the pictures), so there isnt that much information. There is one line of text along the bottom and then the really bright attractive illustrations convey the extra information, an excellent book to develop visual literacy. Although Freyja, the Norse goddess illustrated being driven in her chariot drawn by two huge cats looks more Classical than Norse.
At the back there are 36 cat breeds illustrated with some details about each. They each appear in the book somewhere so you have to go back and find them all, which is fun but quite a challenge.
This is a great introduction to the world of cats, a book that will spark further investigation and encourage you to look at your own moggy with more interest and respect.
What a marvellous book for all cat lovers big and small!
