"Have You Seen My Cat?" by Eric Carle

 

My 22 month loves this book! We requested it from the public library because she has an interest in cats, and all animals. She had me read it with her about 6 times a day for a week and a half! Simple text but so engaging. She loves to hear the different sounds in our voices as we ask the question "have you seen my cat?" and she loves to hear the different intonations in our voices as we answer the question over and over: "that is not my cat." She loves to hear our voices as we roar like a panther or meow like a Persian cat. She loves to hiss for the cat on the title page. She copies the adults pointing. I love that it shows her places around the world and different types of cats. The classic Eric Carle artwork makes the animals and people stand-out on the white background. 

If you know a young kid who loves cats then I would highly recommend this lesser known Eric Carle book.  

Other activities to pair with the book:

-Use blocks, pipe cleaners and pom-poms to create a cat face.

-Listen to "Everybody wants to be a Cat" from Aristocats and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" from The Lion King. Sing "Bought me a Cat (Fiddle-i-fee)."

-Have your child strike the pose of the cat on each page as you read the book.

Other books by this author that we have read and enjoyed:
"Today is Monday"
"Love from the Very Hungry Caterpillar" Great book for Valentine's Day.
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar's First Winter"
"Can You Guess Animal Sounds With The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
"1,2,3 To The Zoo"
"Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle

Eric Carle died in May of 2021 and lived to be 91. He wrote over 70 picture books for children.