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They All Saw A Cat

Brendan Wenzel

4.08 · Rating details · 9,332 ratings · 1,331 reviews

The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . .

In this celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many views of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?

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Hardcover, 44 pages

Published August 30th 2016 by Chronicle Books

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Average rating 4.08 ·

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· 9,332 ratings · 1,331 reviews

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Nov 27, 2016 Emily May rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016, childrens

Okay, I don't intend to review all the picture books I'm currently reading to my baby boy but I just had to say something about this one. This is such a simple, beautifully-illustrated idea and yet it contains a lesson that EVERYONE should learn. About cats; about books; about the whole world.

It was actually my boy's Daddy who first read this to him and, I must say, perfectly demonstrated the point of the book in a rather amusing way.

Dad: That book was lame. It was all about a cat.
Mum (me): Act ...more

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Sep 23, 2016 Hannah Greendale rated it really liked it

Shelves: picture-book

They All Saw a Cat has stunning illustrations and teaches that our varied perspectives shape the way we see others.

The cat -- with his whiskers, ears, and paws -- goes for a walk and is portrayed as he is seen through the eyes of all who notice him. On one page the cat is a bushy forest of endless fur (as seen by the flea). On another, the cat is two enormous yellow eyes blurred by a wall of water and glass (as seen by the fish). Yet another page shows the cat as a plump treat (a tasty morsel i ...more

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Sep 20, 2016 Betsy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books-2016-best

It’s funny. Unless you’re a teacher or librarian, a grown adult that does not work or live with children will come into very little contact with picture books. Then, one day, they produce a few kids and BLAMMO! They are shot into a world they haven’t visited since they were young themselves. They grab frantically at the classics, discover that a lot of them don’t work with very very young children (since when did Horton Hatches the Egg have so many words?!?), and then occasionally turn to the e It’s funny. Unless you’re a teacher or librarian, a grown adult that does not work or live with children will come into very little contact with picture books. Then, one day, they produce a few kids and BLAMMO! They are shot into a world they haven’t visited since they were young themselves. They grab frantically at the classics, discover that a lot of them don’t work with very very young children (since when did Horton Hatches the Egg have so many words?!?), and then occasionally turn to the experts for help. And why? Parents’ reasons are not united on this front. Some read to their kids to instill a love of reading. Others to build little brains. Others to simply fill the long hours of the day. Occasionally a parent will also use a book to teach some kind of a lesson. If the parent is unlucky they will get stuck with a book sticky with didacticism (an unpleasant book that sucks all the joy out of the reading experience). But if they are lucky (or they are in the hands of a capable professional) they might find just the right book, teaching just the right lesson. Here’s an example: Let’s say you wanted to teach a kid empathy or how our perceptions change depending on our own experiences and who we are. How do you show that in 32 pages? Well, you could pick up some cloying, toxic dribble that overuses words like “hugs” and “friendship”. Nine times out of ten, that’s what’s going to happen. Or, if you are a clever parent, you pick up a book like They All Saw a Cat. It looks at first glance like it’s just about a cat. Delve a little deeper and you’ll find it about science and art and perception and empathy. And it does it all with very simple sentences, repetition, and a lot of white backgrounds. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

“The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . .” In that walking it is seen. It is seen by a child, a dog, and a fox. It is seen by a fish, a mouse, and a bee. It is seen by a bird, a flea, a snake, a skunk, a worm, and a bat. And what's important is that this “seeing” changes with every creature. For mice and dogs, the cat is perceived through the lens of their own interactions with it. For worms and bats the cat is only visible through the ways in which it moves through space (vibrations through the ground and the ways in which echolocation shape it). By the end we see a hodgepodge cat, a mix of how each animal sees it. Then the cat comes to the water, viewing its own reflection, “and imagine what it saw?”

The book this actually reminded me of the most was that old Rudyard Kipling story “The Cat Who Walked By Himself”. Unlike that tale we never really get this book from the cat’s perspective. Indeed, the cat is often only visible when others see him. The similarity to Kipling comes with the language. That very first sentence, for example: “The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . .” And as in the original art for that story, the cat here is often pictured from the back. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not a book written by one person and illustrated by another can ever be as strong as a book that is written and illustrated by the same artist. They All Saw a Cat makes a fairly strong argument that artist who are also authors are the better way to go. Wenzel’s sentences are so perfectly layered here. If anything, they match the personality of a cat. There aren’t many words, true. But the measured tone is at once soothing and scintillating. I liked how the book broke up the animals. The first three are potential predators. The second three are potential prey. The final six are strict observers. It also ends perfectly with the best possible sentence. Not all picture books, no matter how beautiful they look, are capable of sticking their landings. This one does.

In this book the publication page (where they tend to describe the artist’s process) gets a little slaphappy. It reads (and I am quoting this precisely), “The illustrations in this book were rendered in almost everything imaginable, including colored pencil, oil pastels, acrylic paint, watercolor, charcoal, Magic Marker, good old number 2 pencils, and even an iBook.” The other day I was listening to a podcast where one of the speakers speculated that including this kind of information in a book changes the adult reader’s perspective. Would I think less of this book if I found out it was done in digital ink? Possibly, though I should note that I was blown away by the art long before I ever turned to see how it was made. And while digital art is great and has its place, I’d like to see the program that replicates what Wenzel’s done here.

The sheer beauty of the book is what strikes you first when you read it. Consider the two-page spread where on the left-hand side you see the cat through snake vision, and on the right-hand side you see the cat through skunk vision. The snake’s view is a vibrant shock of color, all yellows and reds and blues. The skunk’s in contrast, looks like the soft grainy sepia-tones of an old film. Maybe Casablanca. Put together, side-by-side, the same cat is its own opposite. But if Wenzel were constantly wowing you with eye-popping images that wouldn’t really support the narrative flow. That’s why the pacing of the book is key. Wenzel starts the book out very slowly, with lots of white backgrounds and views akin to what we see as people. The child, dog, and fox all see the cat similarly (though I loved the oversized bell around its neck, indicating the fox and dog’s superior sense of hearing through a visual medium). The fish is the first moment you start to separate from human visuals. The cat’s large, yellow eyes are 80% of the two pages. But it is the mouse’s Basquiat-esque view of the cat that steals the show. The red background, and the cat all teeth and claws, and terrifying eyes is a far cry from the cuddly creature at the start of the story. It’s also the moment when the child readers come to realize that perception is personal.

An interesting criticism of this book is linked precisely to the more science-y aspects of the text. One of the commenters on a blog post I wrote, that included this book, said that, “I desperately wanted some nice science-y back matter to tell us how and why different animals see the cat the way they do. Sure, we can go OH, this animal must be colorblind! This animal ‘sees’ by sonar! But c’mon, throw us an edu-bone here. It felt like such a missed opportunity.” This is an interesting note. We’ve grown used to useful backmatter in this post-Core Curriculum world of ours. Would this book have been stronger if it had contained a science element to it? Yes and no. It would have been a real boon to teachers, you betcha, and probably to perceptive parents who could have turned it into a lesson for young readers. If I had to guess I’d say the reason it wasn’t done may have had something to do with the fact that Wenzel is mixing his fact and fiction here pretty closely. Each animal is “seeing” as it would in the wild, but that is not to say that the art is by any means scientific. The cartoonish quality to the animals (no better exemplified than in the mouse’s bulbous eyes) doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny. I would have very much liked notes on the accuracy of the art, but I can understand the fear of asking the reader to take the work too seriously. I don’t necessarily agree, but I understand it.

How do you discuss this book with kids? Well, you might read it to them, start to finish, and then ask them which picture shows what the cat really looks like. When they select (some will go with the human view but I’ve no doubt a couple will prefer the dog or bird p.o.v.s) you then tell them that actually all the pictures in this book are true. And if you really want to blow their little minds, you tell them that there’s a good chance that the way you see the world isn’t the same way the person next to you does. Everyone, everywhere sees the world different from his or her neighbor. Is it any wonder we have problems? The solution is to try and see things from another person’s view. Now, if the kids think you’re speaking literally or figuratively, it doesn’t really matter. You’ve planted the seed. Or, rather, the book has.

Let us do away with the notion of “cat people” vs. “dog people”. This book is for “people”. End of sentence. And if I got a little crazy in my first paragraph here, filling you in on my view of world peace via picture books, you’ll understand when you read this book. That tired old phrase to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” makes no sense to a kid. But travel a page through another animal’s eyes? There’s never been a better fictional picture book that allows you to do this. If we all see something as simple as a cat this differently, what else might we not see the same? It’s a treat to eye, ear, and mind, but don’t forget. We’re all going to see this book through our own lenses. What will your kids see when they look at it? Only one way to find out.

For ages 4-7 ...more

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Aug 19, 2018 Calista rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016, genre-fantasy, award-goodreads-choice, genre-poetry-prose-rhyming, groundbreaking, nature, art-lovely, award-caldecott, award-various, bage-children

Delightful! I was not expecting this. As Anton Ego says from Ratatouille:
"Anton Ego: You know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That's it. I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?
Mustafa: With what, sir?
Anton Ego: Perspective. Fresh out, I take it?
Mustafa: I am, uh...
Anton Ego: Very well. Since you're all out of perspective and no one else seems to have it in this BLOODY TOWN, I'll make you a deal. You provide the food, I'll provi ...more

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Nov 19, 2016 Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrens, fiction, readbooks-male-author-or-illust, picture-books, 1-also-at-librarything, z2016, reviewed, cats, zz-5star

I love this book. It’s almost perfect.

The pictures are truly wonderful and perfectly illustrate the book’s focus about perception and self-identity too. They’re detailed, fascinating, sometimes humorous, sometimes sweet, and sometimes scary.

The text is interesting and has effective repetition to keep young children engaged while at the same time sufficiently interesting so that older readers will not be bored.

I like the end a lot although that last illustration is might be my least favorite of ...more

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Mar 07, 2017 Mischenko rated it really liked it

They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel is a children's picture book about perception. It's a very simple story about how a variety of living beings all perceive a cat differently. The illustrations are very colorful and detailed.

This is an honor book this year for the 2017 Caldecott Medal. For award news please visit our blog www.twogalsandabook.com

4**** ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 Manybooks rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-reviews, childrens-literature, picture-books, science

I absolutely adore both the illustrations and the entire concept of Brendan Wenzel's imaginative and in my opinion oh so true They All Saw a Cat (as everyone, from humans to diverse animal species will by nature see and perceive a given image, in this case a cat, differently, based on both how one's eyes are physically, biologically constructed and how one emotionally and perhaps even philosophically visualises a cat, well actually anything, for that matter). And thus, some of the animals who se I absolutely adore both the illustrations and the entire concept of Brendan Wenzel's imaginative and in my opinion oh so true They All Saw a Cat (as everyone, from humans to diverse animal species will by nature see and perceive a given image, in this case a cat, differently, based on both how one's eyes are physically, biologically constructed and how one emotionally and perhaps even philosophically visualises a cat, well actually anything, for that matter). And thus, some of the animals who see the cat will perceive the roaming feline as potential prey (like the fox and perhaps even the dog) while others will perceive the cat as a dangerous predator, even a potential monster (like the depiction of how the mouse sees and considers the cat, a vision straight out of a horror movie, but very apt and in my opinion realistic). Personally though, I most appreciate how the bee is illustrated as seeing the cat (as this demonstrates that insects with their very differently conceptualised and constructed eyes will see a cat, will see anything, as mostly tiny points).

However and actually, EVERY illustration of They All Saw a Cat is indeed simply superb and marvellous, and aside from being a colourful and expressive visual treat, the illustrations as a whole lend themselves very well to enlightening and perhaps even academic discussions on and about both differences of perception (that the latter are often something entirely personal and that everyone therefore also perceives, also sees differently) and that animals (form humans to worms and fleas) all have different types and styles of eyes, of visual organs, with thus different modes and manners of visualisation (biologically and physiologically). And how one is able to see is also, is itself, based on not only perception and biology/physiology but also, naturally, on one's immediate surroundings (for example, when the fish sees the cat, it sees a distortional image due to water, just like the cat later sees itself as similarly and equally distorted when it looks back at its face reflected in a pool of water). Highly recommended and not just for children either! ...more

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Mar 30, 2019 Sophia Triad rated it really liked it

Shelves: children, cats

Very clever children's book with beautiful illustrations.
It explains how different animals while they see the same cat, they can see it differently. The prespective changes every time.
Since it is a book that is written for very young children, most of the phrases and group of words are repeated.
It is an excellent book to read to a toddler in order to learn to connect words with images.
A KG2 kid can read it on his/her own with minimum help. ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 boogenhagen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cat-bonus, interestingthings

Technically this is a little kid book, but I liked it. There is a cat and as we wander through the pages the cat looks different ways to different things.

Mainly I like cats, I compulsively buy books that have cats - it is my OCD - obsessive cat disorder. But I had a lot of fun with this, and I made other people look at it too, we all had a lot of fun with it, even sober.

The little kid value is that it illustrates how we all see the world a bit differently, and there is nothing wrong with that. ...more

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Jul 17, 2016 Michele Knott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books, read-in-2016

The more I read this book, the more I love it.
This book should have great conversations around perception and point of view.

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Jul 17, 2016 Niki (Daydream Reader) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016, nerdy-award-contender-2016, point-of-view, perspective

This book is perfect to share when talking about point of view!

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Mar 04, 2017 Krissy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-to-tristan, title-animal

**Rated by my son**

I agree with my son on the rating. This was a really cute book and we had a blast reading it together. I really like the books that follow a repetitive theme so that even the little ones that can't read yet have no problem following along and even participating in "reading" the book. ...more

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May 30, 2017 Hilary rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Young children

Recommended to Hilary by: Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan

Shelves: male-author-or-illustrator, picture-books, cat-stories

A cat takes a journey through a garden, on it's way the cat is viewed by many creatures and we get to see how the cat is seen in their eyes. Lovely bright, colourful illustrations, they remind me in places of Eric Carle. ...more

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Dec 31, 2016 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrensbooks, animal-stories, favorites

Wonderful playful look at how perspective changes everything! We get to see a cat from various eyes - as a beloved pet owned by a child, an enormous monster to a mouse, a slinky villainous creature that must be chased to a dog, a pixellated moving mountain of color to a bee.
Charming illustrations bring the reader into each of these viewpoints, and we see the cat with new eyes.
A great book to teach empathy, introduce biology, or to explore art, this is one remarkable book! I would not be surpri ...more

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Sep 02, 2017 Ivonne Rovira rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Ivonne by: BookBub

Shelves: children-literature

What a delightful picture book! In Brendan Wenzel’s Eric Carlesque They All Saw a Cat, each observer — child, dog, terrified mouse, goldfish and more — see a different manifestation of the household pet. Borrow a child if you have to so that you can have an excuse to enjoy this Caldecott Honor book for yourself. (Or just be brave and borrow it with no excuses, as I did.)

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Nov 07, 2016 Dave Schaafsma rated it really liked it

Shelves: picturebooks

Each year I and my family read and rate all the Goodreads picture book nominees. This one is nominated for 2016. I make a few comments and then add their separate ratings and a comment. There's 15 and this is the seventh being rated. My rating might be somewhat influenced by the family, naturally. Not so much in this one, since I liked it better than they did.

A book mainly about perspective. And cats, and other animals, by a conservationist illustrator, yay! A;ll the animals see the cat in diffe ...more

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Jul 12, 2016 Alison Strandell rated it really liked it

Shelves: picture-books

Seeing/hearing this picture book at Nerd Camp, I definitely agree it can be used to lead into topics of perception and perspective. They All Saw a Cat [in very different ways] should get Ss thinking about how they view other people/situations, and how other people view them. Ultimately, I'm liking the idea of incorporating at least one picture book per week for literacy instruction this coming school year. :) ...more

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Jul 01, 2016 Danielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books

Genius book on the subjectivity of perception. Great discussion starter too.

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Jan 08, 2017 Agnė rated it liked it

Shelves: picturebook, children, easy-reader, animals, concept, fiction

3.5 out of 5
A simple but very clever picturebook on perception and different points of view.

How does the same cat look like to different animals?

...more

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Nov 20, 2016 Cheryl rated it it was ok

To me, it seems this might be too much like Seven Blind Mice (which is perfect and unsurpassable) and/or some of Eric Carle's works (which in turn use a common trope in toddler books). We'll see!
.............
Well, no, not *exactly.* Some of the pictures make 'hard' scientific sense, for example the perspective of the snake (infrared) and the bat (echo-location). Some are more psychologically apt (the child focuses on the eyes, the mouse sees the cat as dark, radiating scariness). Others I just d ...more

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Sep 14, 2016 Erin Buhr rated it it was amazing

An impressive and creative book about perception. On each page an animal sees the cat. A simple concept, but what each animal sees is completely different. The mouse sees something terrifying. The fish sees something blurred. Each perspective of the cat is represented using a variety of artistic styles and techniques. A great way to help kids think about differences in how everyone sees the world.

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Sep 08, 2017 Jen rated it liked it

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, but I didn't really enjoy the artwork. I liked how the worm, bat and mouse saw the cat, but many of the other pictures looked a little goofy to me. A child may enjoy the pictures better. It just didn't work for me. 3, under-whelmed and somewhat disappointed, stars. ...more

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Oct 23, 2016 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children-s-books, picture-book

Cybils finalist for best fiction picture book.

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Dec 05, 2016 KC rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrens, picture-book, animals

A delightful tale of how people and other animals "see" a cat. ...more

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Jun 29, 2018 Lauren Stoolfire rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-book, childrens

Purr-fection!

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Mar 05, 2019 La Coccinelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children

Here's an example of a book where I love the premise but abhor the execution.

It's not even that I think the illustrations are bad. They're not. It's a really personal, subjective thing. I had visceral reactions of disgust and fear to some of the pictures (and not necessarily the ones from the perspectives you'd expect). I was--and still am--very sensitive to illustrations in books. That's what I tend to remember about them, especially if they've elicited an emotional reaction. It's the reason I ...more

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Jun 12, 2016 Barbara rated it really liked it

Shelves: animals, imagination, picture-book, perspective, pets, science, visual-literacy, nature, moving, travel

This stunningly-illustrated picture book utilizes colored pencil, oil pastels, acrylic paint, watercolor, charcoal, markers, and pencils to explore how different animals see a feline as the cat strolls into view. The idea behind this picture book is clever since not only do each of us see different things when we view the objects in our world, but our perspectives, like those of the animals in this book, are different as well. Thus, what a child sees when he regards a cat is quite different from ...more

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Dec 31, 2018 Kaethe Douglas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: animals, cats, art

They All Saw a Cat - Brendan Wenzel Cool book. Nice use of art to show different perspectives juxtaposed with a repetitive, rhythmic text. The sort of book that can make repeated re-reads a delight. It lends itself to open speculation on the nature of seeing and the nature of depiction. It also makes me want to set loose a whole classroom in the art supplies to see how many different styles of cat they can come up with.. I'm going to follow this cat into a metaphysical/artistic rabbit hole: do ...more

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Aug 25, 2017 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: caldecott-honor, childrens

This is a 2017 winner of The Caldecott Medal.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I liked how it presented a simple story by comparing how a young boy and various animals saw the same cat, but the cat looked and was perceived very different from one animal to the next. (Simple, creative, imaginative, thought provoking, artsy.)

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Mar 20, 2017 Sadia Mansoor rated it liked it

Shelves: children

Hahaha.. the ending was funny :D
The cat saw its face in the water & imagine what it saw! Hahahah :P
I love how the cat was shown through everyone's different perspective. That's good thinking put together!
...more

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About Brendan Wenzel

Brendan Wenzel

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Brendan Wenzel is an author and illustrator based in upstate New York. His debut picture book, They All Saw a Cat, was a New York Times bestseller and the recipient of a 2017 Caldecott Honor. An ardent conservationist, he is a proud collaborator with many organizations working to ensure the future of wild places and threatened species.