Cat in the Night

by Madeleine Dunphy, Joshua S. Brunet (Illustrator)

Have you ever wondered what your cat does at night? Read Cat in the Night and find out! A little girl falls asleep just as her cat wakes up. Children will experience the world through the cat's eyes, ears, nose, whiskers, and feet as he travels the neighborhood, meeting up with other denizens of the night.

Genres: Picture Books, Cats, Animals, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published September 13, 2016

About the author

Madeleine Dunphy’s books have been published by Hyperion Books for Children, Millbrook Press, and her own publishing company, Web of Life Children’s Books—a publishing company devoted to publishing picture books about the environment. Madeleine is also a teacher, activist and mother.

Madeleine has taught special programs at the California Academy of Sciences, Lawrence Hall of Science, Museum of Children’s Art and at dozens of elementary schools in northern California and abroad. She has a BA in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a MA in education from Mills College.

Madeleine has traveled extensively to research her various books. Her travels include visiting the mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, camping out in the Amazon rain forest in Peru, visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and scuba diving with sea turtles in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Madeleine lives in Oakland, California with her husband, daughter, dog, two cats and a hamster.

Reviews

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art in this story is beautiful. One of the problems with picturebooks set at night, is often times the art is hard to appreciate, but I felt like this illustrator had a firm grasp on the division between night time setting and visibility for the audience.

The story itself is familiar to outdoor cats--Rusty is looking for an intruder cat to chase off of his property. It's definitely a unique plot for a picture book for me, but I felt like it was an interesting little adventure. I liked that the intruder cat was visible in some of the backgrounds before Rusty could see him.

[Braley Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl has a cat named Rusty who likes to go on adventures when she asleep. The cat runs into other animals through the adventures, but he still makes it home before the little girl wakes up. Therefore, I enjoyed the illustrations because you’re looking through the cat’s eye, it was a different perspective.

[Olivia Aponte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a little girl that falls asleep as soon as she does her cat wakes up and we see what the cat does throughout the night. One of my favorite things about this book was the illustrations, they were from the point of view of the cat which I thought was very interesting and creative.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the nocturnal habits of a cat. They wake and mark their territory and fend off predators, all while their owners sleep.

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

No cat lovers could possibly like this book!

[Mouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool story, it's sort of mysterious and slinky... much like a cat! The best part is when the 2 cats come face to face... that's always kind of fun when cats do that.

[Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing!!!!! The story is very realistic and thrilling. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves cats.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about what a cat does at night while its owner is sleeping. The book shows the many other nocturnal animals that he might come across. Seeing that cat almost get hit by a car is a good indication that the cat should be indoors. Huge plus to have a African-American as the girl in the story.

[l · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like an unintentional ode to why all cats should be indoor cats

[Jade · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually never fail to connect with a cat book, but youch, this one was a miss for me. The illustrations were okay; the little girl was beautifully drawn but the cat and his environment looked a bit angular or disproportionate at points. The cat fight was intense and maybe a little scary for little readers, and I'm not sure what the purpose was for having this as the focal point of the story. The cats narrow miss of being hit by a car was strange as well. Overall I'm not sure of the message this one has for small readers, and I know there are many preferable picture books on cats' lives out there.

[Nina McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this beautiful book! The cat's adventures are illuminating and exciting. The story opens up a secret world for all us humans who assume we know what our furry companions are up to at night. It is a special combination of magic and reality to read all the engrossing details of the kitty's busy night. The book's ending, when the cat returns to sleep in his human's bed, is loving and comforting. I highly recommend this wonderful book and have already gifted four copies, all of which were very well-received.

[Amy Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, and my six-year-old daughter does too. She is in a big cat phase, and the beautiful illustrations and real-life adventure of the cat really engaged her. She enjoyed carefully perusing the images to find unexpected/hidden details, and we both appreciated how real the action felt– fantastic to experience the night from a cat's viewpoint! I highly recommend "Cat in the Night," especially for children interested in animals!

[Juliana Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the little girl sleeps, her cat Rusty goes outside looking for the intruder. He finds many nocturnal animals before he finally finds the intruding cat. The two cats fight and narrowly miss getting hit by a car. But the other cat disappears and Rusty hops back inside through an open window and curls up on the girl's bed just as she is waking up.

[Michelle Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really liked the illustrations, I thought the story was a bit wordy.

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cat's exceptional senses are utilized in this nighttime adventure story. Additional facts are included afterwards. My only dislike was the two cats fighting despite it being realistic.