Customer Reviews

Cat

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We have both the Cat and Dog version of this book. Its so great that someone FINALLY developed a toddler friendly version of a pop-up book. There's at least one interactive feature on each page spread and it includes squeaky balls, swishing tails, batting paws. Our kids delight in these little sturdy pull tabs. They're pretty durable, if your kids are already fairly respectful with their books. What really disappoints me about these is how crummy the binding is. We had pages separating on the spine side within just a few days of buying them. They're some of our best loved books, so we keep them on a shelf out of reach where the kids must ask for them-but neverless, after a year's worth of reading, they're in really rough shape, despite my careful taping and gluing. Van Fleet, you're really on to something here and if we can keep the darn thing together it will probably stand out in my girls' memories as an all time favorite childhood book. But your publisher's binding quality really, really stinks! For the price of this book I expected better.

This book is sure to make everyone smile...from 8 months to 80 years old!
Beautiful photography and fun interactive pages.

I bought this for my toddler granddaughter and she loved the book. There are two cats in her home, so she was familiar with cats, and loved turning the pages, looking at the pictures and feeling the "fur" on the pages as well as the push-pull features that made the book interactive. This was a great book for a curious little girl who loves cats.

I had four new babies to buy for in a short space and came across these beautiful books. I ended up buying two of each-one dog book, one cat book - for each child.
These are beautifully done- I will never forget the sixty something Grandmas PORING over them at a baby shower and the other Grandmas impatiently waiting their turn.
The books are nice enough to give as a shower gift and were really appreciated by the new Mamas among all the usual clothes and baby blankets.
As for the actual kids who will "read" them,, these are sturdy, well made books with gorgeous photos and something happens- a texture, a sound, a pull-out- on every page. As the adult who will read them to the child, some of the pages are quite funny-when you end up reading them multiple times you will appreciate this. As with all pop-up books, these should probably be read to the child as there are moving parts but compared to a lot of this genre, they are very sturdy and should last quite a while. The animals are actual pets and are named on the last page. Classy and fun and gorgeous to look at! The above applies to the Dog book as well.

I saw this book by chance when I was shopping, and the cover immediately caught my eye. I just HAD to read it. It's a very simplistic book - for toddlers and young children - but it is a gorgeous and enjoyable book. There's cute popups, and soft 'furry' areas to touch. I've not been a toddler for a very long time, but I enjoyed this book. The photos of the cats are beautiful, and the 'story' here is cute, along with a few silly surprises along the way. If you have a small child who loves cats, then definitely buy this book and share it with them.

My son got this book as a present for his first birthday. We started off keeping it up on a shelf and bringing it down to read together as he pulled and pushed the kitten in the boot a few too many times and mangled it. But now that he is 18 months old, he is an old pro with this book and it is, by far, his #1 pick. He will spend 5-10 minutes reading/playing with this book numerous times each morning, afternoon, and evening. Every day. Anyone with an 18 month old knows how amazing it is to find something that will keep their attention for that long. He flips open the one page to the hidden dog and gives a 'oof oof', squeaks at the mouse under the cheese, and seems able to keep meowing every time we point to yet another cat. Lots of textures, lots of pictures, hours and hours of entertainment.

I preordered this book for my daughter because she absolutely loves Van Fleet's "Dog" book, and I was hoping "Cat" would be just as good... my daughter and I were not disappointed!
The book is listed for children ages 2 and up, but my daughter is 15 months and already enjoys pulling the tabs, petting the fur and flipping open the pages to reveal more cats. She is absolutely intrigued by the squeaking ball! That was the first thing she discovered when she pressed on the cover, and then she turned the pages to find out the source (it's actually a few pages in). She will often sit on the floor for 15 minutes and flip through the pages on her own, carefully examining the cats and all of the features the book has to offer.
My daughter used to bring us her "Dog" book, sit on our lap and demand that we read the book, pull the tabs and pet the animals with her. Now, after only a few days, she does the same with "Cat". At least we can switch back and forth now!
We also have "Tails" and "Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings" by Van Fleet, but for some reason my daughter isn't as interested in them. Perhaps she doesn't find them as fascinating because they are illustrations and don't have as many soft textures as "Dog" and "Cat" do. Either way, I recommend Matthew Van Fleet's "Cat"!
PS: After a while, the kitten that pops out of the boots broke. My daughter must've pulled on the kitten or something!

We received "CAT" as a baby present. Our daughter didn't think much of books until she turned 9 months old (we have however been reading to her daily since she was a 1 month old), but now they're her favorite things. She loves to thumb through all of her board books, but CAT is a particular favorite. She lights up at seeing it, and she could spend 15 minutes on it, which is quite a long time for a busy toddler (she's nearly 1 now). The construction is pretty sturdy, but its limitations have severely been tested by said very hands on toddler. It's showing its wear, so we might be in the market to replace it with a new copy within a year or so. I'm not sure what could be done to make it sturdier without losing some of the pull tab functionality, however. I'd say make sure you let your toddler interact with the book only under close supervision, at least until you can teach them how to properly enjoy books.

My toddler received this as a gift at 17 months and she LOVES it. It is one of her favorite books to read. Although she couldn't care less about the fabric stuff (the "fur"), she loves the squeaker, the flaps, the tabs, and all. She grabs it to look at herself, and also requests that I read it to her frequently (and many times in a ROW!) Like previous reviews said, the binding falls apart. I will have to tape it, and we have only had it for about 4 months! There are two other problems, otherwise I would have given it 5 stars. Most of my older daughter's favorite toddler books are still on the shelf after 12 years! I don't see this one lasting too much longer.

First, although the pull tabs are rugged, the actual tail that wags back and forth on one page is not. It is sort of sandwiched between the two pages with a sort of "gear" type shape. Well, that only lasted a few months before being yanked out (and replaced by me once, and yanked out again, this time tearing the page). Yeah, she really likes to pull stuff! The little "puss in boots" on another page is also quite enticing, as she peeks up over the page--of course it is just begging to be pulled out (I know it's only a matter of time)!

Second, the book is quite wide. That makes it easy to hold when you have the child on your lap with arms around them. And it makes for a great layout for all the cat photos--especially the last pages that fold out, doubling the width of the open book. BUT--if you have a baby/toddler on your lap, and you are reading with them with the book at arm's length (as opposed to flat), when you turn the pages they smack against your little one! I know that sounds ridiculous, but seriously, EVERY page we turn swipes against my little one's head (and no, it's not me!--she turns them). You have to hold the book a little further away to avoid this, but then it is harder for baby to turn with little baby arms. When she looks at it herself flat on the floor, it is not a problem, of course.

So these are small things, but definitely worth mentioning, although even given the problems, I'd still buy it again (which I might have to do if this one falls apart any more!--maybe that is the publisher's secret plan!) Otherwise, it is such a GREAT BOOK!

It is definitely one you can read umpteen times in a row.

Our 20 month old girls have LOVED this book for months. They can spend long stretches of time (15 minutes +) studying all the kitty cats and petting them, squeaking the wheel, pointing out the one that looks like our very own kitty cat. "Luckily," after months of great abuse, the cover ripped off and we can now give one girl the cover (with kittys to pet) and the other the body of the book. We just ordered the dog book and expect that we have months of "woof woofs" ahead.