CRAZY ABOUT CATS

An informational picture book explores the mammal family of felids—cats.

Author/illustrator Davey uses the same basic template as in Mad About Monkeys (2015) to explore the world of wild cats. The book begins with an overview (what cats are, their evolutionary lineages, and their habitats) then gets into specifics as it details the physiological attributes that make them such superb hunters (and shares the interesting fact that cats must eat meat to have their nutritional needs met). The “Featured Creatures” segments examine a few specific cats in more detail, which gives readers a break from generalities. A vast amount of facts—hunting adaptations, territory, reasons for fur coloration, kittens/cubs, and even cat mythology—are presented in a lively, organized, and entertaining manner. The wonderfully illustrated “To Scale” double-page spread, intended to show the comparative size of selected cats to a human, may need to be explained to nonmetric readers, since the scale across the top of the page could be interpreted by those unfamiliar with metric as showing that a meter is 6 inches long (all the measurements in this British import are metric). Davey’s entertaining headings (“Eat, Prey, Hunt”; “Pride and Predators”; “Kitten Caboodle”) are a delight. Finally, Davey ends with a statement that many cats are rare or endangered and offers readers accessible ways to help.

There’s lots going on here, and all of it good.