Good Cats/Bad Cats/2 Books in 1 [Library Binding]

Charles Ghigna (Author), David Catrow (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

The same cats that are cute, cuddly, and purry become sneaky, lazy, nosy, spiteful, and mean with a flip of this witty two-in-one book of verse and hysterical cartoons.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Simple rhyming texts describe the various good and bad things about cats and dogs. Some of the portrayals are amusing, but many are confusing, questionable, or inappropriate. Both have potty humor, including an illustration of a yellow puddle in Dogs, which is more indicative of a bad owner than a bad pet. A reference to the Carnac character from the Johnny Carson era of "The Tonight Show" will be lost on most kids, while cats with horrified expressions in a washing machine is just plain cruel. Catrow's colorful watercolor illustrations usually enhance the spare text, but sometimes they add to the confusion. The books need to be flipped over at the halfway point to enable readers to begin the other side of the story. Happy Blanket (Farrar, 1990) by Tony Ross is one of the few titles to employ this gimmick successfully. In both of Ghigna's books, the bad qualities outweigh the good ones. --George Delalis, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Hyperion (Juv) (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562822934
• ISBN-13: 978-1562822934
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 4.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,579,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Ghigna (FATHER GOOSE) is the author of more than 50 award-winning books from Random House, Disney, Hyperion, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Abrams and other publishers. His books have been featured on ABC's "Good Morning America," PBS and NPR. He is a poet, children's author, speaker, and nationally syndicated feature writer who promotes the love of poetry and children's literature throughout the world and the author of more than 5000 poems for children and adults. His poems have appeared in hundreds of textbooks, anthologies, magazines from The New Yorker and Harper's to Cricket and Highlights. His poems also appear in the national SAT and ACT tests. He has served as poetry editor of The English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English and has presented poetry programs at the Library of Congress, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Library in Paris, the International Schools of South America and at hundreds of other schools, colleges, conferences, libraries, book fairs, and literary events throughout the world.

For more information, please visit the Father Goose web site at www.FatherGoose.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely hysterical picture book., January 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Cats/Bad Cats (Hardcover)

This wonderful two-part book has been nearly worn out from reading it every night to my daughter. The illustrations are outrageously funny, and the text is a simple poem that children quickly learn. "Cats are cuddly, cats are cute, cats can clean their furry suit," is accompanied by pictures that are full of fun details. The bad cats are just as much fun--"Cats are sneaky, cats are sly, cats will look you in the eye," as the reader is met with the dilated pupil of a feline face winking across the page. I highly recommend this book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was a happy day when we found our lost copy of this book!, October 29, 2003

By 

Deborah Vatcher MD (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Good Cats/Bad Cats/2 Books in 1 (Library Binding)

Life is full of conflict; especially the ongoing conflict between good and evil. I would have to give evil the upper hand in this book, however, because the evil cats are just funnier. My favorite cartoon is the one where the fat orange tiger cat has just lacerated the kitchen screen door with his claws, allowing a squadron of toothy venomous insects to assault the kitchen. Mind you it's the details in the drawing that are so hysterically funny, like the sink full of soapy dishes, likely abandoned when the insects laid siege on the kitchen. The reading glasses, mugs of coffee, and pencil and paper on the table make me wonder if this perhaps wasn't the author's own personal experience at home. The cat sits on the floor, one eye open to peer at the marauding bugs zooming past his head, and can think of nothing better to do than to lick his paw. "Ho hum," he seems to be saying to himself. "Is this all the terror I could unleash on my owners today?"

I don't think the kids will mind the "potty humor," that is the reference to "nasties" in a hat. There's a cartoon of a hairball flying out of the cat's mouth onto a man's striped shirt. Yes, cats can be a bit messy at times. However, this is life, let's face it. We can't always have the cute, cuddly side of life. Sometimes, there are claws, fangs, and yes, peeping tom cats.

I personally didn't see the terror in the cartoon with the cats inside the washing machines. Of course, they'd probably rather not be there while the woman in the cartoon daintily folds her laundry, and the little girl sits politely on the edge of her chair, her hands neatly folded in her lap. Yes, even in the process of being good or coming clean, there can be some pain and difficulty.

I think some of the themes in the book are rather deep, but presented in cartoons and poetry, while we laugh, we can forget how serious some of these messages might be.