Customer Reviews

King o' the Cats

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

 

 

Aunt Mary read _King o' the Cats_ to niece Robin, age 8, who really loves cats. She liked it all, especially the coronation scene. Robin is involved in Renaissance Faire activities and is attuned to the rituals of royalty. Aunt Mary liked the irony of Father Allen gaining a reputation for telling tall tales. Also, the illustrations were lovely, dark and appropriately spooky.

I read "The King O' the Cats" to a group of children ranging in age from kindergarten through 5th grade. After hearing the story, all the children thought this was a good book to read to kids, but that it might be too scary for the younger ones. They all like cat stories and liked how the cats helped prove Peter's "stories" to be true. They thought it had to be something important to get the cats to talk to people, though.
The illustrations lead to discussions on how the pictures were used to bring out the most important parts of the story, such as how the King of the cats stood out from the crowd as he was being crowned and thought it was interesting that the priest looked angry but spoke kindly to Peter.
There was the one child who prefered books with non-talking cats, though.

Our class really liked the book King O' the Cats. Kelly enjoyed the crowning of the cats, and all the cats going meow, meow. Mary enjoyed the details, which made her want to read more and more. Cheyenne liked how in the beginning Peter was making up stories, and at the end, the priest does the same things. Marissa feels that the book was "fantastic and funny." She especially liked when Tom jumped up and shouted "Then I'm the king o' the cats!" Diana enjoyed reading about Peter's shortcut. Shannon liked it when the cat hit his head! Alex B. liked the cats on the foxes chasing the dog. Brittany's favorite part was the cats in the church. Alex C. made a text-to-self connection, since he has cats, and he felt bad when his cat died. Daniel H. made a text-to-text connection-it reminded him of The Secret Shortcut. Destin also made a text-to-text connection, with The Boy Who Cried Wolf. (He also feels this book should get a medal!) Efren liked when the cats cried for the dead king cat. Morgan liked the whole book, but especially when the cats were speaking. Preston says, "I love your book, oh yes I do!" Ty liked when Tom went up the fireplace chimney, and he liked the title, too. Michelle wants Aaron Shepard to write a King O' the Cats part 2!

Kristin Sorra's vibrant drawings bring an old English folk story to life in Aaron Shepard's engaging King O The Cats. What kind of intelligence can cats have? Young Peter Black has noticed some strange things happening among the local cats lately; but nobody will believe his wild tale. His investigation of what is affecting all the cats in town reveals a changing world brought on by a single leader.

First the disclaimer: I am the author's wife. BUT...Wait...Before you decide to skip this review, let me add something.

I've never reviewed any of his other books.

So why this one?

King o' the Cats is a very special book. It's a slightly spooky story with twists and surprises in both the plot and the characters. It dramatizes truth and imagination, creativity and conformity.

But mostly, it's a delight. A special book, a special gift--for children, grownups, cat lovers, and anyone at all who enjoys a good story.

By the way, Aaron has a reader's theater script of this book available online at www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE36.html

King o' the Cats Review

Written by Mrs.Jantzi's Challenge 5th graders

We thought that the King o' the Cats would be a sure crowd pleaser. Our favorite part was when the cats hunted the Irish Setter. The characters are vividly hilarious. We liked the suspenseful parts.