My youngest daughter (9) and I reviewed this one together :)

WHY? We are cat lovers...particularly black cat lovers and are always on the lookout for more ways to encourage positive thinking and peaceful living.

Cover? Love it! :)

Title? If the word "cats" didn't real me in, the inclusion of the word "dogma" would have.

What I Liked - the premise of the book...the idea of pairing animal behavior with living a happy life...animals don't worry...why should we?

What the youngest liked - "learning about cats, and it rhymes"

What I didn't like - the illustrations - I disliked them so much that they distracted me from the whole idea behind the book...as a matter of fact, after I finished reading, I wasn't sure that the book actually accomplished what it set out to do...show how cats live their lives to the fullest in a way that speaks to us about how to live our lives. After a quick discussion with the youngest, and finding her favorite/least favorite illustrations, I realized that the book, or the words at least, do indeed make that connection. I just missed it.

While this inconsistency may not bother some, it bothered me a lot...it just affected my entire mood.

What the youngest didn't like

Even though the author told us ahead of time that her cat Cagney would be on every page, the youngest thought that was overkill. She didn't use that word, of course, but she said it was too much.

Overall Recommendation

The youngest didn't have the problem with the illustrations that I did, and she said if we were in a bookstore, she would want to buy this book. I, however, would not. With children's books, I think the illustrations are incredibly important, and this one just doesn't do it for me. Of course, it's not written for adults, so I'm not sure how my opinion weighs into that conversation. The youngest did not, however, see the connection between the cats' behavior and how people can look at those behaviors in their own lives.
I think this is a great idea, just with more consistency in the illustrations. ( )