Picturebook Review: Some Cat by Mary Casanova and Ard Hoyt

Some Cat, written by Mary Casanova and illustrated by Ard Hoyt, is a picturebook about one cats struggles. Violet is a prickely cat. She finds herself in the shelter with vague memories of a home with too much yelling and not enough food. While she wants to be adopted she greats people with a snarl and a hiss, then becomes sad when a kitten is chosen instead. She just knows she is meant for great things. One day an older couple agrees to take a chance on Violet and brings her home. There Violet meets the family's dogs, George and Zippity, who she treats just as poorly as the people she had seen in the pound. A rescue from other dogs changes Violet's point of view, and he learns to enjoy her new home.

Some Cat is a fun and well illustrated picturebook that shows a cat struggling to adjust. Violet does not know how to act towards people and other animals that want to befriend her. She reacts the only way she knows how, by hissing and fighting. How many people are the same way, being teased or ignored enough that they have trouble acting appropriately what someone is making an effort to be nice or include them? Maybe if we all could think like George and Zippity, being nice and protecting friends and family regardless of how they act, there would be less hissing?

I think Some Cat would be a great book to open discussions about that sort of problem, and the reasons behind the problem behavior. It could open new lines of communication and paths to friendship for those trapped in the same circle of disappointment as Violet, and help others understand them. Good for use in a classroom, child care, library, or home environment.