How to Teach Your Cat a Trick in Five Easy Steps by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by Zoe Si

How to Teach Your Cat a Trick in Five Easy Steps by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by Zoe Si, tundra, 2022. 9780735270619

Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4

Format: Hardcover picture book

What did you like about the book? A little brown-skinned boy is determined to teach his lazy, fluffy grey cat Einstein some tricks.  When the boy commands “sit!’ Einstein stands but a cheerful, orange retriever-looking dog happily complies. High-five!?  The dog is a pro. Jump!  Circle.  The dog can do them all.  And therein lies the fun of the story: watching the dog perform all the tricks while being ignored by the boy.  The dog is adorable.  And the cat?  Scratches the furniture, chases a bird, knocks items off shelves and makes messes.  The illustrations, created digitally in Procreate, are simple, presented individually on a pinkish background.

Anything you did not like about the book?  Not really.

To whom would you recommend this book? This is a good choice for both dog and cat lovers and will surely elicit laughs from a storytime choice.  It could be paired with How to Give your Cat a bath in Five Easy Steps by Winstanley and illustrated by John Martz.

Who should buy this book? Public libraries and child care centers

Where would you shelve it? Picture books

Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No.

Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Katrina Yurenka, Retired Librarian, Contributor, Youth Services Book Review

Date of Review: September 14, 2022