Theme · Cats
Cat books for children: four picture books, and how to read the ages
Cats in picture books paint, forget, sing and go looking for their people. Below are four cat picture books with publisher and age taken from BookTrust, and a note on why the two ages BookTrust gives for many books are worth reading together.
What is known about children and cats in books, and what isn't
First, the gap. We found no study of why children like cats in picture books, or whether a cat book does anything a dog book doesn't. BookTrust keeps a list of cat books for 0 to 14. It opens with Mog and describes the cats on it as getting up to mischief.1
What the four books below show is a spread of cats: a mother cat whose kittens paint themselves in three pots of colour, a forgetful family cat who ends up with a medal, a relaxed cat who loses his buttons and keeps singing, and a busker's cat who searches for his person.2345
Cats in these books tend to be funny and a bit independent, and a child who has a cat at home, or wants one, will recognise some of that. That is our reading of the books, not a research finding.
Four cat picture books, checked
Listed from the youngest listener to the oldest. All four ages are BookTrust's own.
10 Cats
Emily Gravett · Two Hoots, 2022 · BookTrust: interest age 2 to 3, reading age 2 to 3
A mother cat with nine kittens falls asleep, and the kittens get into three pots of paint. As they play, the colours mix until all ten cats are multicoloured and need a bath. It also works as a counting and colour-mixing book.
Mog the Forgetful Cat
Judith Kerr · HarperCollins · BookTrust: interest age 2+, reading age 6+
A forgetful cat keeps getting in her family's way, but her forgetfulness helps her foil a burglar and earn a medal for bravery. The gap between the two ages makes it a book to be read to a toddler and read alone much later.
Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons
Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean · HarperCollins · BookTrust: interest age 3 to 5
Pete loves his shirt with four round buttons so much that he writes a song about it. When a button falls off he takes it in his stride and keeps skateboarding, eating ice cream and surfing. Counting, singing, rhyming and repetition run through it.
Tabby McTat
Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler · Scholastic, 2016 · BookTrust: interest age 4 to 6, reading age 6+
Tabby is a busker's cat. When his busker, Fred, is injured and taken to hospital, Tabby goes searching for him. Written in rhyming verse and meant to be read aloud, with a loud little kitten at the end.
Two ages for one book
BookTrust gives many books two figures: an interest age and a reading age. For Mog the Forgetful Cat they are 2+ and 6+, and for Tabby McTat 4 to 6 and 6+.35 The two numbers can be far apart, so a book can be one to read aloud for years before it is one to read alone.
What that means when you choose. If you are buying for a child who is a few years from reading, the interest age is the one to follow. If you are buying for a new reader, the reading age matters more. 10 Cats is the one on this list where both numbers agree, at 2 to 3.2
Or a story of their own
If your child should be the hero
- A cat turns up on your child's windowsill every morning, and your child follows it one day to find out where it goes.
- Your child's cat is very forgetful, and on one busy day your child has to remember everything for both of them.
- A cat has lost its collar and its way home, and your child and the neighbours piece together whose it is.
Frequently asked questions
- What age are cat picture books for?
- From about two. In this list, 10 Cats is interest age 2 to 3, Mog the Forgetful Cat 2+, Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons 3 to 5 and Tabby McTat 4 to 6, all according to BookTrust.
- What do the two BookTrust ages mean?
- BookTrust lists an interest age and, for many books, a reading age. For Mog the Forgetful Cat they are 2+ and 6+. A book can suit listening long before a child can read it alone.
- Is there research on why children love cats?
- We found none about cats in picture books. The page says so and describes only what the four books show.
- Can our own cat, or a cat we dream of, be the hero?
- Yes. In your idea you can describe a cat you have, one you'd like to have, or an invented cat, and say what it gets up to.
Sources
- 1.BookTrust: Books about cats (booklist).What it confirms: A list of cat books for ages 0 to 14 that opens with Mog and describes the cats as getting up to mischief.
- 2.BookTrust Bookfinder: 10 Cats.What it confirms: Emily Gravett, Two Hoots, 2022; interest age 2 to 3, reading age 2 to 3; the plot.
- 3.BookTrust Bookfinder: Mog the Forgetful Cat.What it confirms: Judith Kerr, HarperCollins; interest age 2+, reading age 6+; the plot.
- 4.BookTrust Bookfinder: Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons.What it confirms: Eric Litwin and James Dean, HarperCollins; interest age 3 to 5; the plot.
- 5.BookTrust Bookfinder: Tabby McTat.What it confirms: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Scholastic, 2016; interest age 4 to 6, reading age 6+; the plot.
Other themes: Animals, Autumn, Dinosaurs, Rabbits, Moles, Elephants, Witches, Unicorns, Fire engines, Dragons, Football, Dogs, Pirates, Space, Diggers and trucks, Forest and Hometown. Or children's books by age, growing up, topic by topic and all the illustration styles.