If your daily walks are becoming a bit same-ish, then perhaps you ought to consider doing things the cat way.

The Cat Way is a 66-page picture book neatly divided into two parts. It opens with a child of about 9 years of age taking their unnamed pet cat for a walk. Unfortunately, things don’t go so well. The cat stops to play with another furry feline and then a couple of humans. The child gets cross and walks off, although is soon filled with remorse at their actions and the prospect of losing their pet.

“If I go home, she might disappear forever.”

The clever cat has not disappeared, of course, which brings us to Part 2. This time it is the cat, rather than the child, who is in the lead. And how different this walk is to the suburban stroll in Part 1! The cat heads straight for the woods; there’s no path and darkness is falling. It’s not a big surprise when the young child breaks down in tears when they take a tumble. However, they soon discover there is beauty to be found by letting another take the lead, and by venturing into unknown territory—beauty in both the surroundings they experience and in the close relationship between child and cat.

Sara Lundberg’s storytelling has a gentle, quirky appeal. The cat talks on more than one occasion, and the marvelous watercolor and gouache illustrations have a surreal feel. Variety abounds in the artwork, with some pages featuring individual portraits while others depict sprawling suburban scenes viewed from an aerial perspective. Text is simple with minimal or no content on each page.

The Cat Way is an engaging, interesting read for cat lovers, walkers and budding young explorers. It confirms that life can be an adventure if you’re open to different possibilities and perspectives.

The Cat Way
Written and illustrated by Sara Lundberg
Translated from Swedish by B.J. Woodstein
Due to be published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers in October 2024

ISBN: 978-0-8028-5633-3

Reviews: Kirkus

You can buy a copy of The Cat Way here or find it in a library, here.*

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Laura Taylor previously posted at Planet Picture Book, a world children’s literature blog she founded in 2017. She is a small business copywriter, NAATI-certified translator of French into English and member of AUSIT. When she is not writing, she is reading and spending time with her two young children. She occasionally tweets @plapibo