Picture Book: Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty

My husband and I have been hunting down interesting children's books that we think our son will (hopefully) like once he's born. A lot of books we've chosen based off the cover art, and Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty falls into that realm! The title caught my eye because as a veterinary assistant and cat owner, I know how difficult it can be to attempt to give a cat a bath. Most of the cats I've had to bathe throughout my career have needed to be sedated! The cat on the cover art especially drew me in because he's sitting on the title, prim and proper, with absolutely no thoughts behind his little eyes, while his family struggles with various tasks below him. As the owner of an orange cat, I know how chaotic life can be with them. I thought this would be the perfect book to review for a picture book because of the personal ties I can almost immediately draw without even opening the first page. As my son grows up in a home with an orange cat, I hope he can eventually appreciate the humor and reasoning behind my choice. 

The book opens with the father begging his family, consisting of his (presumed to be) husband and three children, to get up and start cleaning before Grandma gets home. He goes through the list of chores to be done, which are written on the refrigerator in magnetic letters, including mopping the floor, scrubbing the dishes, vacuuming the rug, feeding the fishes, mowing the lawn, sweeping the mat, rocking the baby, and bathing the cat.

Bathe the cat?

The cat hears this and immediately jumps to the fridge, scrambling the letters and messing with the order of the chores. The family immediately gets to work following the new chore list. Now, they need to feed the floor, sweep the dishes, rock the rug, and scrub the fishes. They go on to vacuum the lawn, bathe the mat, mop the baby, and mow the cat.

Mow the cat?

Once again, the cat jumps to the fridge to scramble the letters again. The first father is visibly irritated, reading the once again scrambled list off to his family. Now, the chores read mow the floor, rock the dishes, bathe the rug, mop the fishes, scrub the lawn, feed the mat, sweep the baby, and vacuum the cat,

Vacuum the cat?

At this point, it's a little repetitive, but I think you get the idea! The cat consistently messes with the chore list and somehow always ends up with a worse fate because of it. The father continues to get confused and visibly frustrated with his family, rereading the list the cat has messed up consistently. In the end, he decides to rearrange the chore list to its original state with one small change. Instead of bathe the cat, the father ends up rocking the cat in the end. Grandma arrives, and all is well; the house is clean, the family is satisfied, and the cat is happy and bath-free.

I really loved this book, and I can definitely see how children would be incredibly entertained with the changing chore list and antics the cat gets into. It's not what I expected based off the title alone, but I really did love the direction it went! Teaching a class with this book would definitely be entertaining on both the student and librarian's side. With the constant rearranging of chores, it would be a great way to get young students to understand logical order of tasks and chores. Vacuuming the rug is obviously a normal chore, but how would they be able to sweep the dishes? I think it could be incredibly engaging and entertaining for students, and it would be an easy lesson plan to prepare for! 

I also love the illustrations and rhyming. The illustrations pop off the page with color and make it easy to follow the story, even if you're not reading along. They're definitely fun and engaging, and I can see how students would be drawn in from the images alone. The rhyming also makes it a fun book to read aloud. I love reading books with a rhyming scheme, and I think students have a fun time with it as well. 

Overall, I think this is a wonderful selection for an elementary school library. It's entertaining and engaging while being an easy book for young readers. The illustrations invite in students who may not be quite at that reading level yet, and it's still an easy enough story to follow through pictures alone! It's definitely a book I would consider for a library, and I hope my son eventually enjoys reading it just as much as I did! 

Word count: 795