Customer Reviews

Sneakers, the Seaside Cat

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Margaret Wise Brown, best known for her classic "Goodnight Moon" book, was a prolific author. Her books have been reprinted often of late, usually with a new illustrator more suited to modern tastes and the better printing techniques. In this case cat artist extraordinaire, Anne Mortimer, has been selected and the results are simply stunning.

The story itself is fairly simple: Sneakers, a plump and handsome black and white cat, accompanies his human family to the seaside for the first time. He explores the seashore flora and fauna; the repeating line is "My, I am glad I saw that." Brown's writing never condescended to children, who may enjoy the childlike adventures of Sneakers (although adult cat owners may not like the fact that Sneakers is allowed to roam about by himself; the current trend seems toward all indoor cats.)

As for the illustrations, they are just stunning. I do like Ms. Mortimer's work as a rule but this time she has outdone herself. The posture and expressions she has captured are among the best I have seen: incredibly naturalistic. On the basis of illustration alone I would recommend this book, but it would work very well for a pre-school beach/seashore/summer book.

While it is nice to have another book by the classic author, Margaret Wise Brown, Sneakers, the Seaside Cat is best bought for its illustrations. Anne Mortimer's skill in depicting cats, beach and ocean life and beach scenes is without comparison in any recent children's picture books. In fact, her illustrations alone, without text, would have made this a five-star picture book for youngsters and a GREAT board book. Her illustrations have been paired with Brown's story which is not to exciting but is easy to read and has a good range of words for beginning readers.

I was shopping extensively for an outstanding children's book one Christmas and was lucky enough to stumble upon this gem. As other reviewers have pointed out the illustrations are stunning and the book as a whole teaches an appreciation for nature and the wonders that can be found near the sea.

The story is good, but the illustrations bring the characters and scenery to life. The cat, Sneakers, is particularly charming and a big hit with children. Over a year after I gave this as a present, it is still this particular child's favorite book and as an adult I appreciated it.

There is some special intangible that comes alive through the combination of the author's narrative and illustrators ability. This is a book that you can't go wrong with and that you can appreciate as an adult.

Your child will also learn a lot about the sea and beach and be able to identify with the curiosity of the main character. This is a nice launching point for the imagination and good two-way conversations.

A sweet and simple story with beautiful pictures. Perfect for a small child who has a cat (or would like one...) or who visits the beach (or would like to...).

I was somewhat disappointed with this story which is quite slow and dull. Any cat on its first trip to the seaside would surely find a lot of smells, sights and sounds to excite and overwhelm it, but Sneakers seems to quickly move on from everything he sees and is either bored or a little scared of it. Despite this, he dreams about the seaside on the journey home. What makes the book special is Ann Mortimer's exquisite illustrations. She really makes Sneakers come alive and the depictions of the sea, the shell creatures met, the seagull and the beach have a perfect sense of colour.

Gave Sneakers, the Seaside Cat for a donation to a children's library. They were so excited about this book. The illustrations were awesome!

Sneakers, the Seaside Cat has become a cherished book for my granddaughter. Who would have realized all of the wonderful stimuli that a cat could find at the beach. This story is brought to life so well through the actual tale and the wonderful illustrations. This is a book that will be read over and over for many years to come.

My grandson loves cats and this book helped him think of stories and helping. One day he hopes to have a real cat to join his stuffed animal cat, Shadow.

While this book has beautiful colorful illustrations for any cat lover, such as my daughter and I, the story is okay. We were a little disappointed by the ending. It felt like there should be a little more to it.

However, the artwok is wonderful and fun for any child to look at.

After purchasing this book, we found 'Sneakers, Seven stories about a cat' to read all the stories in their original form. The cat illustrations are darling.