When a boy is FINALLY allowed to get a cat, he is excited. But Max the cat shuns the toy mouse, couldn’t care less about the hand-knitted sweater, and spends most of his time facing the wall. One by one, the family gives up on Max, but the boy loves his negative cat so much, he’ll do anything to keep him. Even the thing he dreads most: practicing his reading. Which, as it turns out, makes everything positive!

A little boy wants a cat more than anything. He’s been asking his parents for over 400 days. Finally they give in, but only if he feeds it, cleans his room, and spends time reading every day. At the shelter, he chooses one cat and names him Max. The little boy is so excited, but Max is not. Max doesn’t like anything, and the entire family is annoyed. The boy’s sister points out that Max is kind of negative. So when the lady from the shelter shows up to collect Max, the little boy tries everything he can think of to change their minds. Will the negative cat shape up or get returned? Read this sweet tale to find out.

The Bottom Line: This adorable picture book highlights the best in people and pets. When you put your mind to something, chances are you can do it. Check out this title for story hour or bedtime reading with kids in grades K - 2. Enthusiastically recommended. [It’s interesting to note that the digitally created illustrations were “superimposed on the reverse side of vintage wallpaper salvaged from a falling-down house.” How cool is that?]

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. ( )

A young boy pleads with his parents for 427 days to be allowed to get a cat in this heartwarming picture-book from author/illustrator Sophie Blackall, and when he finally does, Max (Maximilian Augustus Xavier) turns out to be an unfriendly feline, prone to making messes and seemingly uninterested in making friends. Then the boy, who had promised to read more, as a condition of getting this new pet, begins to read aloud to his negative cat, and something wonderful happens...

Having read and enjoyed a number of books about therapy reading dogs—see Lisa Papp's Madeline Finn and the Library Dog and Maria Gianferrari's Hello Goodbye Dog—and loving the concept, I was absolutely charmed to discover that there are also therapy reading cat programs! How wonderful it is to me, as both a reader and a cat lover, that it is reading stories that bring the boy and Max together, and convince the boy's parents that this "negative cat" is bringing something positive to their lives. Naturally, I found the artwork here every bit as appealing as the story, and I also appreciated the inclusion of an afterword from Blackall, in which she discusses her family's own "negative cat," and the real world reading to cats program that partially inspired her story. Recommended to cat lovers young and old, as well as to fans of Sophie Blackall, in whose number I count myself. ( )

After over a year of asking for a cat every day, a kid's parents take them to the shelter to adopt one. But "he's kind of negative, your cat," observes the older sister; Max doesn't do much of anything - not anything good, anyway. But when Max's home with them is jeopardized, the kid does all the things he promised, cleaning his room and reading (aloud)...and Max snuggles up to listen. From there, the happy outcome is that not only does Max stay, but the kid's class visits the shelter to read to all the cats. (Then, of course, they all beg to adopt one.)

See also: Matilda's Cat by Emily Gravett; Twig & Turtle (chapter book series featuring a Read Dog). ( )