Cleo the Cat

ISBN 1841482595 - This book was something of a small surprise for me. I picked it up expecting it to be for a slightly older age group and was prepared to find it wanting. It was a pleasant surprise, but I will point out that a board book version of this book might be a better choice for the 0-3 age group. In very simple rhyming text, the reader meets Cleo the cat, who wakes, yawns and sets out to find a friend and a home. Spying an open door, Cleo enters. Offered a bowl of milk, Cleo drinks. And, finally, offered a lap, Cleo finds a friend and a home. The text is very basic, all words that very young children will know, making it very easy for them to follow the story. Author Stella Blackstone does a surprisingly good job of telling a cute, touching tale with minimal words and the illustrations, by Caroline Mockford, were a special delight. The first image is a bit dark and the first several have very little to make them very attractive - this is when Cleo is alone and homeless. When she spots the house, the illustrations begin to have more color and much greater detail. It's a subtlety that might go over the heads of little kids, but it really caught my attention. The pages of the hardcover book are quite easily torn, a negative in a book for the youngest of readers, which is why I suggest the board book version. However, it's probable that the board book version will be smaller and some of the quality of the illustrations will be lost with space constraints. Whichever edition you get, Cleo is a cutie and your budding bookworm will want more of her. I, myself, look forward to picking up copies of Come Here, Cleo! and Cleo and Caspar to get my collection started. - AnnaLovesBooks

We bought this board book for our 16 month old daughter at the art museum in Chicago because it was so colorful and cute. My daughter loves this book so much. She is almost 2 now and she can say many of the words and loves to say and mimic the things that cleo is doing on each page. We were so happy to find that more Cleo books exist at the library too! There isn't a night that goes by that we don't read this book before bed. It ends with Cleo going to sleep and is very good for reading before bedtime.

My son got this book as a Christmas present when he was 9 months old. The book was a great read then, and we still enjoy it now that he is almost 2. I think it has a lot more use left in it. The book has really nice pictures, and a nice rhyme. We are cat lovers here, so this book was an especially big hit.

I love looking at children's books now that I have had my first child. But as I have shopped, I've learned that many books marked Baby to Preschool are not always appropriate for a baby under 1 or even 2 (aside from being excellent for chewing) because the topic or text is too advanced. But sometimes, it's nice to find a book that conceptually works for the little ones. And this book is perfect. Very simple text about a little cat who wants to find a friend and a home. The story is not too cloying, and it's not silly. But it is humorous, cute, and sweet. The colorful artwork matches the sweet, rhyming text. Highly recommended.