The Cat's Meow

by Warren Kimble

Warren Kimble is the cat's pajamas. Warren Kimble, America's foremost contemporary folk artist, lets his favorite cats out of the bag in his first picture book for the very young. From fat cats to clean cats to curious cats, these clever word pairs capture familiar feline behavior and attitudes in all their quirky glory. Kimble's legions of fans ― who have bought millions of his art prints, stationery, and home decor items ― will welcome the opportunity to introduce their favorite artist to the next generation.

Genres: Cats, Picture Books, Childrens, Pets

24 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 2006

About the author

As “America’s Best Known Living Folk Artist,” Warren Kimble draws on more than 50 years of experience as a fine artist, educator, and antiques collector to create a casual but sophisticated style of American Folk Art.

His classic folk art features the animals, rural landscapes and buildings of Vermont. Warren Kimble’s paintings are universally appealing. They evoke a simpler and less complicated era.

As Warren himself says, his style is “reminiscent of something that surrounds a person every day. It is simplistic, yet abstract.”

Among his most popular images are barns, houses, animals and Americana themes that reflect his love for landscapes in Vermont and rural America. Warren often paints on carefully selected wood for his canvas, using 18th-century tabletops or cabinet doors that have textural qualities due to their use by past generations. His warm and unique color palette adds to the overall feeling of serenity in his paintings, which are widely sought after both in the U.S. and internationally.

In response to his art work, more than 50 licensing partners joined with Warren from 1995 to present to create a series of quality products in range of categories, including artistic prints, calendars, furniture, home accents, wallpaper, dishware, and publishing. He has been ranked in License! magazine’s top 100 leading licensors.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations of cats highlight this very short, simple book. There's no story to speak of, but each illustration has a two word caption that describes each cat (fat cat, playful cat, curious cat, scaredy cat, etc.) I did not even look at the narrative when I picked this book out at the library - I liked the title and the cover illustration and knew I had to read it. When I realized the simplicity of the words, I told our girls to tell me what they thought about each cat and in essence, create our own story. In any case, I loved the pictures - if you love cats, it's worth a look.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book to read because of it's short text. When I re-read it prior to using it for story time, the text seemed above the age level I was using it for. So I did choose to read it to the Tiny Tots group, asking the adults & children to repeat what I read (2 words on each page). I said this was a great opportunity for new vocabulary words. It worked perfectly using it this way. Awesome illustrations.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all the Folk Art illustrations. There is no attempt at a story here. If you love Folk Art illustrations, go ahead and buy the book; if you merely like them, check this book out from the library; and if you don't like them at all, put this book back on the shelf where you found it.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations, but the story itself was so-so.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The folk arty cats were cute but in truth my daughter's cat illustrations capture much more of the emotion/behavior of cats.

[Melle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A richly folk art illustrated picture book with simple two word text describing cats. (Zelda is Curious Cat!) Not a lot to it, but lovely and pleasant.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and cute book for cat lovers