Cat Tricks [Hardcover]

Keith Baker (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

A playful cat chews the laces of a sneaker. Turn the page, and suddenly the sneaker has become a roller coaster--and the cat is enjoying the ride! Magic unfolds with the turn of each die-cut page in this inventive and humorous book. Children will delight in discovering the nuances of each transformation and in the clever antics of a very crafty cat. “In all, an illustrator’s tour de force, and a great stimulus to a child’s visual imagination.”--Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1. This tall, thin picture book is filled with one cat's magic. On each double-page spread, the phrase "My cat can..." introduces an amazing feat. For example "My cat can.../paddle a canoe," shows drapery transformed into a waterfall; in others, a hat becomes a sailing ship, a cake becomes a bakery, a doll's skirt becomes a circus tent, and a plate of spaghetti becomes an ice pond. Thus, Baker cleverly shows how a cat can transcend the everyday world. And though the feline can create all this spectacle, "he would rather play with me!" The rhyming phrases are just enough?three to four words a page. The cat's eyes draw readers into the bright pictures that shine like neon-colored jewels. Crosshatch lines add the look of crayon or block print. While a few of the illustrations are a bit abstract and hard to understand, the overall package is a gem.?Susannah Price, Boise Public Library, ID
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Fans of Baker's Hide and Snake (1991) will be happy to encounter this new book of catchy verse and tricky pictures in an intense purple, green, blue, and gold palette, used to depict cats, shoes, hats, clocks, patterned fabrics, and extravagant textures of all kinds. In this tall, narrow book, every other page is half- width; turning it transforms the picture into a completely different scene, showing a dapper black-and-white cat doing something quite improbable. The fun is in seeing how Baker transforms lines or shapes in one picture into something totally different in the next: a spiderweb to a ship's rigging, a sweeping green feather to a curling ocean wave, a loosely tangled plate of spaghetti to skate tracings on a frozen pond, a pair of green curtains to a plunging waterfall. Often an object in the first picture will prefigure something in the second, or the second will contain an echo of the first. In all, an illustrator's tour de force, and a great stimulus to a child's visual imagination. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 44 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015292857X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152928575
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,466,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

KEITH BAKER is the author-illustrator of many beloved picture books, including Little Green, Hide and Snake, and Quack and Count. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My sons loved this book!, April 19, 2000

By 

"recco" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat Tricks (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book for preschoolers. Toddlers love the repetition and bright pictures, and preschoolers really enjoy the creative transitions in the illustrations and the easy-to-read phrases. My oldest son liked this book so much when he checked it out of the library, I had to order a copy for him to keep!