What Will Fat Cat Sit On?

I adore this book. I love the faces of the various animals as Fat Cat considers sitting on them. I love how the duck offers up the pig. "Will Fat Cat sit on... the DUCK? "SIT ON THE PIG, SIT ON THE PIG!" I love how Fat Cat sits on the chair in the end. Strangely, this normal ending makes everybody laugh! (Sorry for spoiling the ending there.)

Easy to read, simple and quick story - love it, love it, love it! Good for kiddos with short attention spans as well as kiddos who are beginning to develop a (slightly) sophisticated sense of humor.

When the librarian recommended this to me, she claimed it was "read aloud gold." I completely saw that from the first page. There are so many interactive elements to this book--such as answering questions, call and repeat, animal noises--I can easily imagine a librarian selecting this for a storytime. This said, reading the digital version was a unique experience. I have an old Kindle model, so the illustrations were small and not in color. A child definitely needs a device with color and a large screen to get the most out of a digital picture book. The digital version also had the text written below the illustrations, which I found confusing at first. The text was readable on the illustrations, so this addition seemed unnecessary. show more Overall a great book, but not the best format for my digital device. If a library had a large screen television on which to transfer the ebook, I think it this format could be used successfully in storytime. show less

Thomas, J. (2007). What Will Fat Cat Sit On? New York: Harcourt, Inc.

9780152060510

Appetizer: Using a repetitive question and answer format, What Will Fat Cat Sit On? asks readers just that. Since the questions are all whether or not the cat will sit on certain animals, the book also helps young kids to work on identifying cows, chickens, pigs, mice, etc. and the noises they make.

The illustrations are simple and fun. Thomas does an excellent job of showing the characters' worry or joy in their expressions.

As the reader is asked whether fat cat will sit on the various animals, the answer is always no. While kids will probably love shouting out "NOOOOooooooooOOOOOO!" and all of noes do provide tension for a possible "yes" at the end. As a show more preschooler, I would have totally wanted to yell out yes to Fat Cat sitting on a cow, chicken or pig. While a teacher can negotiate those moments for kids who are fans of the absurd like I was, it was a little frustrating that the text always disagreed with what I wanted it to say.

Dinner Conversation:

"Will Fat Cat sit on...the cow?"

"No! Fat Cat will not sit on the cow!"

"Sit on the pig! Sit on the pig!"

To Go with the Meal:

Oh, Jan Thomas, you are so good at writing simple stories that will encourage young little children to interact with stories physically. This would be a good book for a read aloud story. Children can repeatedly shout back "yes" or "no" to the text. Plus a teacher can easily go off the script of the story and ask more questions, like whether a cat will sit on a skunk, in a bath or on a lap, etc. A teacher can also use this book as an opportunity to encourage kids to describe some of the places where they have seen cats and other animals sit.

I could see some teachers freaking out about the use of the adjective "fat" in the cat's name. It could lead to a teaching moment in which a teacher will have to remind wee little kids that it's not nice to call one another fat.

It's also worth noting that Jan Thomas has a very simple website that reflects the illustrations of her picturebooks that a teacher could encourage new internet users to navigate. (But at the same time, the site does lack information for a blogger might want to construct a useful author bio. Just saying....)

Tasty Rating: !!! show less

I find my tolerance for marginally entertaining books goes up exponentially as my proximity to enthusiastic children increases. Had I read this on my own, I wouldn't have liked it much, but since I had people with whom to read it, it wasn't too bad. The illustrations are not at all my style, but they are emphatic.

What Will Fat Cat Sit On is a super funny picturebook to be enjoyed for its silly and the delightful graphics, especially the facial expressions of the characters. The illustrations are bright and simple. The comical expressions of the animals compliment the text, making the book a great read a loud for kids. The title of this book is really cute.

It is predictable and the young students should get a kick out of it.

Thomas always comes through with the silliness and a clever twist.