My kids are in their kitty cat era. Just yesterday, my daughter set up a cat toy making factory in a very Henry-Ford esque assembly line way. She recruited her friends to come work for her, and then they made videos of how to make cat toys and ads for their cat toy company.
If you’re wondering, here are our cats:
They are carried around the house in a fruit crate from Costco, because – efficient cat care is important to my daughter.
My daughter also loves stories with cats in them – either as a personified character, or as a true-to-life cat. Here are some of our favourites!
Kids Books with Cats in Them
Alfie and the Birthday Surprise by Shirley Hughes
We just love Alfie in our home. In this story, he takes care of a kitten that will be a birthday gift for their neighbour.
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
A slight warning if your kid is sensitive to stories of the circle of life – in this story, there is a big cat (old), and a little cat (kitten). They become best friends and eventually the old cat dies, and the little cat is sad. A new kitten comes home and little cat becomes the big cat. It is a heartwarming story.
Jennifer and Josephine by Bill Peet
Bill Peet is a fantastic plot driven children’s author with engaging illustrations. In this story, Jennifer the cat is loyal to her friend, an old car named Josephine.
Millions of Cats by Wanda Ga’g
This is one I kept from my childhood. I loved it. As I read it back as an adult to my kids, I question my 7-year-old self – but my kids also love it. In this story, a man can’t choose which cat to bring home, so he brings home millions of cats, and then they all get into a brutal cat fight until there is only one little kitten left. Decision made. Anyways, an odd but beloved story.
Ahh Rotten Ralph – where would we be without you? I love reading Rotten Ralph, because he’s such a disagreeable, mean, misbehaved cat. And haven’t we all been a little disagreeable, mean, and misbehaved at one time or another? He is ultimately forgiven – just as I hope for myself and my kids when we wake up on the wrong side of the bed.
Sam, Bangs and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
In this story, a little girl named Sam tells tall tales. These tales end up putting the life of her friend and her cat in danger – and she learns of the importance of honesty and distinguishing between fact and fiction.
Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
Okay, I’ll admit, I don’t love reading this book to my kids. I almost didn’t include this one in the list because I personally find SkippyJon Jones to be kind of annoying – but my kids love him. He is a siamese cat who thinks he is a chihuahua. He is as cute, funny, and endearing as “a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse*” and I have a love/hate relationship with SkippyJon.
*Yes, this is a reference to Taylor Swift’s song Actually Romantic. We love cats in this house, and Taylor Swift.
In this story, a boy has to flee from his apartment building as arson riots escalate in his hometown. He is separated from his cat, who is found by neighbours. It’s a story of a community coming together in the face of scary uncertainty.
Tabby Cat’s Secret by Kathy Henderson
In this story, a cat goes off to have her kittens and no one can find her! The two kids in the story search everywhere and eventually find her kittens.
The School for Cats by Esther Averill
The Jenny’s Cat Club Books are a delight. My kids love these stories of personified cats who go to boarding school to learn how to be nicely behaved cats.
Jenny Goes to Sea by Esther Averill
We read this in first grade for geography because Jenny travels around the world on a boat. We tracked Jenny’s route on the world map – it was a fun way to bring in world geography.
The Fire Cat by Esther Averill
The Fire Cat is an early reader with characters from the Jenny’s Cat Club series. Pickles, the Fire Cat is an impulsive cat who is also a hero.
They All Saw a Cat – Brendan Wenzel
This book is about perspective – how different critters (bird, bat, worm) see a cat.
The Cat Came Back by Bill Slavin
This is an illustrated version of a popular folk song, originally written in 1893 by Harry S. Miller. There is an Oscar-Nominated animation of the song to complement your reading!
I love stories that are a pleasure to read aloud – where the words trickle over my tongue like an energetic brook. Posy is one of those stories. Posy is one busy kitty that kids adore.
In this story a little girl tames a wild cat through persistence, patience, and love.
Ketzel the Cat Who Composed by Lesléa Newman
This is based on a true story of a cat who walked across a keyboard and in doing so, composed her first piece of music. It is a beautifully illustrated story of what goes in to composing new music.
Lucy Maud and the Cavendish Cat
As a homesick Canadian living in the USA, Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of my favourite authors and this story of her cat is a delight.
Moses the Kitten by James Herriot
James Herriot’s animal stories are classic favourites of animal lovers everywhere.
The Christmas Cat by Efner Tudor Holmes
What is Christmas without a cozy story featuring a snuggly cat? This is a comforting Christmas read.
Read-Aloud Novels
One of the joys of my life is reading out loud to my kids from novels. Here are some that we have enjoyed together.
Ra the Mighty by A.B. Greenfield
Ra is one cute detective. We’ve enjoyed a few books from the Ra the Mighty Cat Detective series.
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
This is a lovely story about friendship, loyalty and helping one another with our natural gifts. In this story, a cricket finds itself in the subway. He befriends a mouse, a cat, and a boy named Mario. The cricket uses his musical abilities to help Mario’s family.
Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate
I love a story with a unique narrator. The story of Pocket Bear at the home of discarded toys is told by a tough old cat named Zephyrina.
The Cats in the Doll Shop by Yona Zeldis McDonough
My daughter loves dolls and she loves cats. Dolls and cats come together in this story of an immigrant family in New York during the first world war.
The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels
We are loving our current read aloud. It reminds me of Madeleine, Mary Poppins, Amelia Bedelia, and Mathilda. It is magical and sweet.
If you’re in your kitty era with your littles, I hope this post gave you some ideas of books you can read with them!
-Heather
ps: This post contains Amazon affiliate links and I receive a small commission from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting my blog!
Enjoyed this post? Please check out some of my other recent posts!
- Cat Books for Kids
- Colorful Eclectic Family Room
- Books for Boys Resistant to Reading
- Hosting a Mother-Daughter Craft Club
- Building Community by Watching Sports Together
Don’t want to miss a thing? Please consider subscribing to my blog and receive an email when I publish something new!