Eyewitness: Cats

Clutton-Brock, Juliet. Eyewitness: Cat. New York : Knopf, 1991.

Plot: The text offers the famous Eyewitness-styled descriptions of all thing feline. The various habitats, adaptations, and histories of cats find mention. Additionally, the text lists the different families of cats and their characteristics. Outlines for basic cat care find description, as well. To complement the captions, the book offers a variety of photographs and cartoons to spark further interest. Eyewitness : Cats provides a solid blend of information and illustrations.

Genre: Animals

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Eyewitness series

Personal Thoughts: As longtime readers of the blog know, I enjoy the Eyewitness series, and Cat offers a solid addition. Unfortunately, some of the information in the version I read was outdated (it was about twenty years old, after all) and some was inaccurate. For example, the text mentions cats enjoy a traditionally more benign view in Asian cultures than European ones. This is not true. For example, Asian folktales often describe cats as vampiric and vengeful. Traditional Buddhist mythology claims cats refused to mourn the passing of the Buddha, causing them to loose access to heaven. Some Japanese stories claim cats will become monsters if their tails become too long, so wise owners must crop the animals' tails. Perhaps in an attempt to amend such inacuracies, a more recent version was published in 2004.