[Cat the Cat, Who Is That? (Cat the Cat Series)] [By: Willems, Mo] [February, 2010]

Cat the Cat #1

by Mo Willems

Cat the Cat sure likes her friends. You will too Join this spunky feline as she introduces the very youngest readers to her world, where a surprise is waiting in every book

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Cats, Friendship, Storytime, Fiction

Hardcover

First published February 16, 2010

About the author

#1 New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems is best known for his Caldecott Honor winning picture books Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale.

In addition to such picture books as Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Time to Pee, Mo has created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of early readers, and published You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons, an annotated cartoon journal sketched during a year-long voyage around the world in 1990-91.

The New York Times Book Review called Mo “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's."

Mo’s work books have been translated into a myriad of languages, spawned animated shorts and theatrical musical productions, and his illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation.

Mo began his career as a writer and animator for television, garnering 6 Emmy awards for his writing on Sesame Street, creating Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City and head-writing Codename: Kids Next Door.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short board book by one of Neo’s favourite authors, it was the perfect piece for the short time before heading to camp. Willems uses a small cat to walk around the neighbourhood, meeting some of the others out for a stroll. Likely geared for little ones, Neo still enjoyed the quick piece that permitted him to predict what would follow and how the new reader (or pre-reader) might decipher what can be found on the page.

[Brent Weeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mo Willems is the antidote to the thought that you could write children’s novels. There is a subtle genius at play here. Usually the set-up is simple (sometimes almost painfully so). In the “Cat the Cat” minis, for example:

“Hi Sheep the Sheep! Time to sleep! Okay!” “Hi Pig the Pig! Time to sleep! Sure thing!” and on through giraffe, crab, horse, shark, and finally to the owl.

But it always sets up some humorous twist for an adult reader. The cat ends up asking the owl to sleep, and of course, owls are nocturnal. So the owl sits there while everyone sleeps, eyes wide open. Further, every page of this (at first glance painfully simple) story does have a picture of the animal in question doing something prepatory for bedtime: reading a book, taking a bath, brushing teeth, and so forth.

I find that even the at first ridiculous repetition “Cat the Cat… Sheep the Sheep…” is a nice tool to help children engage and start to learn to read. You can point to the words “Cat the” hold your finger over the second “cat", and the child knows what that has to say. In other words, each page does a surprising amount of work with the highest possible degree of efficiency.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this to my almost-one-year-old last night and for the first few pages I thought, "Oh wow, this is exceptionally lame."
It's Fish the Fish!
It's Duck the Duck!
It's Mouse the Mouse!
I'm reading this out loud, trying to be enthusiastic but in my head thinking, "Seriously? This is the whole freakin' book? Somebody actually made money off of naming a character Fish the Fish?!"
But then, the joke was on me when the book took a very goofy, surprising twist at the end. The last few pages completely changed my opinion, and I found myself laughing as I closed the book.
Plus, here's the thing: even if the whole text really had been as lame as I thought it was going to be at first, I'd have to give it a good rating anyway because my baby loved the illustrations. He normally nurses while we read, but he gave up on eating to sit up and look at the pictures and help me turn the pages. He was more enthusiastic about this book than he has been about almost any other we've looked at in his short life. Obviously, Mo Willems is on to something.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, I don't know-- I see lots of reviews saying this book is too simple and doesn't have a plot, but my emerging reader 6 year old enjoyed the fact that he could really and truly read a lot of it without help, and my 4 year old laughed and laughed, so this book is a success in my opinion. Cute and funny.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you have a little one learning to read at the earliest level? In our house, we love, love Mo Willems. He's just launching a new series for kids just learning to read: Cat the Cat. This series is geared to the youngest audience of any of the books he's made, but they have the classic Mo Twists. My favorite parts: they make us giggle, and they make my kindergartner want to read them again and again.

Cat the Cat is in search of friends. So she wanders down her street, meeting new friends along the way.

Cat the Cat, who is that?
It's Mouse the Mouse!

Cat skips along, meeting a mouse, a duck, a fish. And then all of a sudden - EEP! - she meets a very strange creature. Should she be scared? Or fascinated? She has NO idea. But then this creature waves. Maybe... "It's a NEW friend!" Hooray! This is a fun book - it certainly made us giggle. And as a parent and teacher, I love the way Cat the Cat meets a new person, wonders about her, and then decides to try playing with someone new and different.

This series is for a younger audience than the Elephant and Piggie books, and will not cause the outrageous laughter that that duo cause. But Cat the Cat is wonderful for toddlers with very short attention spans, or for preschoolers and kindergartners learning to sound out words on their own.

[Kate Hastings · Rating 1 out of 5]

RL 20. Ugh. What a let-down after the elephant and piggie books. Reminds me of the the "Wormy Worm" series Chris Raschka did a few years back. The illustrations are cute-- but they lack a fun storyline.

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐️
Read to the clients today

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3 year old really enjoyed this book, especially since he could quickly "read"/memorize the book and take himself through it. Each of these books has a cute "twist" too - I liked the callback to knuffle bunny books in this one.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

That twist!

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julianna chose this book from her school library. Short cute book. She especially liked the ending. She gives the book 5 stars. Blarggie! Blarggie!

[Brighton Hulsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was nice and she loves all of her friends. She’s wearing a dress. BLARGGIE!

[Raquel Pilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat the cat introduces Mouse the mouse, Duck the duck, Fish the fish and... An interesting new friend! 😋
Fun story for young readers!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely enthralling! This book was such a delight. The illustrations were super cute and humorous. I loved turning the page because I knew there would be some hilarious animal on the next page. One thing I love about Mo Willems is how he works in twists - even in his simplistic children's books. I loved this book and I can't wait to read the rest in the series.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2010...

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I think I about have Mo Willems figured out, he cranks out another work of unexpected genius. Now, meet Cat the Cat and her friends in this delightful new picture book series. I'd love to see these in early reader paperbacks, but that could be awhile, because we need to take the time to appreciate Mo's deft hand at illustration in full picture book glory.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We love Mo Willems and have been picking up all his books as of late, but these are a little past us. We enjoy them, but a little too simple for even my 3 yr old twins. It loses their attention and seems to blend in with the other animal books we have, whereas Willems piggie and elephant books don't. Still, worth the read and a lot of fun for the younger crowd.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is great because of the repetition, interactive aspects, and the fun eye-catching illustrations. Perfect for infants, toddlers, and beginning readers.

[Kristy · Rating 1 out of 5]

If possible, this is even lamer than Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus. :/

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Beginners reader book. My girls really enjoyed this book.

[Monica Silva · Rating 1 out of 5]

My son did not like this book.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat the Cat walks around introducing the reader to her friends until she meets someone unexpected.

This beginning reader features Mo Willems’s signature artwork and humor. It follows Cat the Cat as she greets and introduces her friends until she encounters someone whom she doesn’t know.

This person is either a space alien or a monster, and Cat the Cat’s first impulse is to be afraid. But when the creature gives her a friendly wave and speaks to her, Cat the Cat decides he must be ”a new friend,” and the two begin to play together.

In addition to teaching basic vocabulary for beginning readers, this book cleverly addresses prejudice. When Cat the Cat sees a strange looking person who speaks an unknown language, she is initially frightened, but Cat the Cat, after pausing for a moment to think, decides to befriend the person rather than run away.

Moral: don’t judge by appearances. Also, just because someone is a monster or space alien doesn’t mean s/he is dangerous or hostile.

[Ryan Laferney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book is deceptively simple but full of humor and contains a really fun twist of an ending that teaches the importance of not being afraid of people who look different cause they just might become a new friend! Willems uses a small cat to walk around the neighbourhood, meeting some of the others out for a stroll but when Cat the Cat meets Blarggie he's unsure if Blarggie is friend or foe. You have to read to find out!

I love the Willems has surprises and twists in all his books that teach valuable leassons. His books keep kids engaged and laughing. I read this one in my baby and toddler storytime and the toddlers (especially the older ones) thought this was a hoot!

A great book about non-judgement and friendship told in Willem's delightful, silly way.

[Tarnisha Tolliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat the Cat, Who is That? By Mo Willems

This is a level A picture book that teachers can use for teaching student’s literacy patterns. There is lots of repetition in the story that students can easily follow along with. I did not read this story to my scholars, instead they read this story to their peers in shared reading groups. Students were to identify the literacy patterns in the story. This story is always a great story for students who are learning to read because it has sight words and is repetitive. Though the book is great for children learning to read there weren't as many illustrations and not many opportunities for critical thinking questions.

[Shelbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Mo Willems fan, always, but this is one of his weaker ones. The rhyming starts out good, but starts to lose steam as the story goes on. The text is very simple so it wouldn't work for older kids, but it confused the preschoolers deeply. They were immediately done with stories after this one because it ends so abruptly and unsatisfyingly. If you must read this one, no older than 2 I'd say, and you'll have to add some extra words to explain it or let them make up their own story. The illustrations are cute.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deceptively simple text, children will enjoy the repetition in this story and the twist ending. A good choice for beginning readers to develop fluency and the toddler/PreK crowd who will enjoy being able to predict what's going on and what each animal's name is. yes, it's a bit boring for the adults, but we're not the target audience.

[Marian Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

03/26/25 Cute for family storytime that skews younger. Kids can repeat "Cat the Cat, Who is That?" and wave to the different animal friends. It ends on a funny/sweet note with Cat making a new friend with an unknowable creature (alien? monster?). Of course it's also perfect for the intended target audience, beginning readers.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

- Super simple read for younger audiences
-Scarce text
- Story about friendship

I enjoyed this book because I love Mo Willems stories even when they are simple. Even though it is directed towards younger audiences I till think the message of friendship is conveyed.

[Carolyn Jeziorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple story with a predictable pattern that changes at the end. This series would be good for writing workshop instruction on pattern books. As always, Mo Willem’s pigeon can be found in the story.

[Kaitlyn Kluesner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute picture book about Cat who introduced her friends throughout the story. I love that the dialogue is shown in the pictures. This will help young readers understand characters speaking. Very cute story, with cute illustrations!

[Mandi Simmons]

Teaches friendship to children up to five years of age. The energetic Cat the Cat introduces readers to her friends, like Mouse the Mouse, Duck the Duck, Fish the Fish, and of course, to someone new.

[Alyssa Arce]

This. book teaches friendship to children up to five years of age. The energetic Cat the Cat introduces readers to her friends, like Mouse the Mouse, Duck the Duck, Fish the Fish, and to someone new.