Cats by Seymour Simon

1. Bibliography
Simon, Seymour. 2004. CATS. New York: Harper Childrens. ISBN 0060289406.

2. Summary
CATS provides basic information about cats including history, physiology, kittenhood, types of cats, and pet care.

3. Critical Analysis
Detailed photographs, many of them close-up and full page, show cats in a variety of colors and fur lengths, and in a variety of situations: acrobatic play, nursing kittens, and sleeping, for instance. The extraordinary clarity of the photographs makes the pictured cats practically jump off the page. Even individual fur hairs stand out, inviting the reader to touch their fuzziness.

Simon's writing is engaging. He gives just the right amount of detail about cats to be informative and appropriate to the target audience. Varied sentence structures and length keep the large-font, double-spaced text flowing, and with three or four short paragraphs to a page, there is plenty of white space to keep the text visually friendly.

4. Review Excerpts
School Library Journal--"Readers will thoroughly enjoy every word and every photograph..."

5. Connections

Simon, Seymour. 1994. BIG CATS. ISBN 006446119X. Discusses the big cats--lions, tigers, leopards, etc. Students can compare and contrast the big cats with domestic house cats.

Simon, Seymour. 2004. DOGS. ISBN 0060289422. DOGS is the companion book to CATS. Together, they make a great set about the world's most common house pets.