The Christmas Cat
Picture Book
Imaginative Retelling
An imaginative telling of a cat that became Jesus' pet the day he was born in the stable through his family's escape to Egypt. The author notes she was inspired to write the book from da Vinci's "La Madonna del Gatto" paintings. This telling is simple and short with good illustrations.
I love the way the book opens, "Jesus was beautiful, like all babies. And like all babies, he cried." For some reason there's this popular idea that since Jesus was perfect (sinless) that means he never cried & there were silent nights all around. I like that this book just states the simple truth.
As much as I love how the book opens, I don't like how it closes, "For of all the cats and children everywhere, they [Jesus and the cat] were meant for each other ... from the very first Christmas night, in the bright starlight." I just have a problem saying that the Savior of mankind was "meant for" a cat. It just rubs me the wrong way - especially since the story would have been nicely concluded without the inclusion of the quoted line.
Four stars
To see other books in the #StorytimeChristmasCountdown Collection, click here.
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