Mama Cat Has Three Kittens

This is my favourite of Denise Fleming's books. Mama Cat has three kittens, Fluffy, skinny, and Boris. Whatever Mama does, Fluffy and Skinny do - while Boris naps. It was such fun watching Liam discover the layers in this. He started by joining in the refrain of 'Boris naps' then he named every kitten on each page. The he was excited to search for Mamma Mouse hidden on each page. And just as he learned to count to three he discovered the three bugs on each page. This was delightful, a favourite for all of us to read.

I first read this in the early 2000s when I began doing storytimes. One of my all time favorites. My toddler loves how Boris naps on every page. There are 3 different things on each page to count, as well as a mama mouse making her way through the pictures to the surprise ending. Love.

Love Bruno the rebel. The illustrations are bright and it's fun to spot Bruno doing his thing on every page.

Retelling: Mamma cat has three kittens, Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris. While fluffy and skinny do everything mamma cat does, Boris naps. On each page there are animals that come in threes. See if you can spot them.

Thoughts and Feelings: I'm concerned for Boris. Is he sick? Dehydrated? Does he have sleep apnea? What seems to be causing his exhaustion?

This book has nice illustrations, but I found the story very basic (and not very interesting). It is probably good for toddler and preschool-aged children.

Mama cat has three kittens named Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris. Fluffy and Skinny do everything that Mama cat does while Boris naps. When Boris is up playing, Mama, Fluffy, and Skinny are sleeping. Boris is on the opposite schedule as Mama and his two siblings. I think this is a cute story but it should be a little bit longer. This book was very short and sweet. I think its appropriate for 1st graders who would get a good laugh at how silly Boris is.

Two kittens imitate everything Mama cat does, but their brother just likes to nap. Nice predictive repetition that can easily be interactive.