house cat vs big cats ( )

A positively lovely story about celebrating our similarities rather than our differences!

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This clever picture book combines animal classification with a not-so-subtle message about inclusion, all wrapped up in hilariously adorable illustrations.

A plump, small gray cat named Simon happily introduces himself to the other cats. "I am a cat. Just like you!" This elicits some wide-eyed disbelief from the panther, lion, tiger, and other big cats. A cat like them? Ridiculous! The lion has a fearsome roar and a mane; the cheetah is the fastest animal; the tiger is the biggest and strongest of all the cats! Simon points out that they're not alike either, so how can they be cats? The condescending big cats explain that they all have "small, perky ears and flat noses" as well as other things in common. Things that.... wait for it.... Simon has too!

It turns out Simon IS a cat - just a little smaller! So there's no reason they can't play together after all, doing all the things cats love to do.

Clever Simon's lesson to the big cats on looking for similarities, not differences, will hopefully not be lost on young children. It's also a nice lesson on how animals are defined and budding young biologists should be able to apply this to other animal families as well.

The illustrations are wonderful, with sleek, gray, stripy Simon the epitome of self-confidence, even in the face of the big cats' patronizing attitudes and amused golden eyes. The clean lines of the cats, set aside white backgrounds (except the eyes, glowing on black), remove any distraction from the simple storyline.

Verdict: A charming and informative book, perfect for storytime with a wide range of ages. Encourage kids to create their own families of animals with differences and similarities, or even of people, if they're old enough to translate the concept. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781419726439 ; Published February 2018 by Abrams; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library

When Simon encounters a group of big cats, he declares that he is one of them, only to be greeted with denial and derision. Where is his mane, the lion wants to know, and where his speed, the cheetah inquires. Cats live in the mountains, the puma tells him, while the panther insists that cats should be black. The tiger, in the meantime, believes they should be orange (and very large!). When Simon presses the issue, he discovers that there are some things shared by all cats, and he gets his wilder, bigger cousins to see that he has them too...

A picture-book debut from expatriate Israeli author/artist Galia Bernstein, who created the illustrations for Carole Lexa Schaefer's Monkey and Elephant chapter books, I Am a Cat is an absolutely charming title, one that features an engaging story about differences and similarities between various feline species, and adorable artwork depicting a diverse range of cats. Simon's cute little face is so expressive here, as are the faces of all the bigger cats, and Bernstein captures the droll humor of their interaction. As a cat lover I really enjoyed this one, and suspect other cat lovers will feel the same. It is to them, and to anyone looking for humorous new picture-books featuring animals, that I would recommend this one. ( )