They All Saw a Cat

They All Saw a Cat - Brendan Wenzel  Cool book. Nice use of art to show different perspectives juxtaposed with a repetitive, rhythmic text. The sort of book that can make repeated re-reads a delight. It lends itself to open speculation on the nature of seeing and the nature of depiction. It also makes me want to set loose a whole classroom in the art supplies to see how many different styles of cat they can come up with.. I'm going to follow this cat into a metaphysical/artistic  rabbit hole: don't wait up for me.
 
Library copy

"The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears and paws," the narrator of this lovely picture-book tells us at the opening of the story, going on to detail the many different creatures who in turn see the cat. Each observer - a child, a dog, a fox, a goldfish, a mouse, a bee, a bird, a flea, a snake, a skunk, a worm, and a bat - sees the cat differently, something highlighted in the artwork. They all see the cat, but how does the cat see itself...?

A wonderful book, one which emphasizes how differing experiences result in different perspectives, and how differing physical realities influence the different ways we see, They All Saw a Cat is as beautiful as it is thoughtful. Brendan Wenzel, whose artwork in Some Bugs and Some show more Pets was so immensely engaging, creates a slightly less busy book here, visually speaking, but one that still has artistic appeal. I really liked the different ways he depicted the cat, in order to reflect the differing perspectives of the various creatures. The two-page spread from the mouse's perspective, in which the cat is a ferocious black monster on a red background, was particularly well done. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories that teach about perception and how it differs from individual to individual, as well as to fans of Brendan Wenzel's artwork. show less

Wonderful playful look at how perspective changes everything! We get to see a cat from various eyes - as a beloved pet owned by a child, an enormous monster to a mouse, a slinky villainous creature that must be chased to a dog, a pixellated moving mountain of color to a bee.
Charming illustrations bring the reader into each of these viewpoints, and we see the cat with new eyes.
A great book to teach empathy, introduce biology, or to explore art, this is one remarkable book! I would not be surprised to see it win the Caldecott Award.

What a delightful picture book! In Brendan Wenzel’s Eric Carlesque They All Saw a Cat, each observer — child, dog, terrified mouse, goldfish and more — see a different manifestation of the household pet. Borrow a child if you have to so that you can have an excuse to enjoy this Caldecott Honor book for yourself. (Or just be brave and borrow it with no excuses, as I did.)

~ I entered a contest and won this book. I'm sorry I can't remember from where. I'm not very organized and someone threw away the bubble envelope.

I LOVE this book. It's a treat for the eyes and it's a treat to share with kids.

The cat walked through the world,
with it's whisker, ears, and paws...

And all sorts of things saw the cat. A child, a dog, and a bee are examples. And so you can use this book at laptime to point at the animals and name them to little ones.

For slightly older children you can run your finger over the words as you read and introduce to them the beginning mechanics of reading.

For older children, even adults, you can examine the art. You see, each creature sees the Cat differently and the artwork reflects that not show more only from perspective, but with style. The Bee, for example, barely sees the cat. He's unconcerned with the cat's presence and we see on the pages what the cat looks like in the fractured vision of an insect; the artwork is pointillist.

The Mouse, in contrast, views the Cat as a monster; and the artwork on those pages is dramatic, with strong contrasting colors.

Summary
I'm a mom that loves a good story and THEY ALL SAW A CAT has that. But in addition to a good story to share I also love opportunities to do more with a book. Brendan Wenzel's book could inspire art projects, and can be used to identify art movements and to remark on perspective. There is close and far; scary and almost unimportant.

In addition there's the opportunity to discuss 'internal' perspective. The fact that other people don't perceive things the way we do because their knowledge set/background is different than ours. This is one of the more difficult things to teach children. Sometimes I'm not even sure my teens get it. THEY ALL SAW A CAT opens up that door to understanding that principle. show less

I love this book. It’s almost perfect.

The pictures are truly wonderful and perfectly illustrate the book’s focus about perception and self-identity too. They’re detailed, fascinating, sometimes humorous, sometimes sweet, and sometimes scary.

The text is interesting and has effective repetition to keep young children engaged while at the same time sufficiently interesting so that older readers will not be bored.

I like the end a lot although that last illustration is might be my least favorite of the bunch.

A wonderful idea, very well done!

The art is mesmerizing, the words lyrical, and the overall story inspired. Seemingly simple, this story shows how different animals all perceive a cat, but it incorporates both scientific lessons (for example, how bats perceive by echolocation, worms by vibrations, some animals see color and others in black & white) and the message of stepping in someone else's shoes and understanding life from different perspectives. So many layers, yet so simple & beautiful.