A Better Way to Bell a Cat - Bonnie Grubman

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Author: Bonnie Grubman

Illustrator: Judi Abbot
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Rating:4.5 stars.

A cute and funny retelling of the Aesop’s Fables story, “Who will Bell the Cat?”

Elwood, Bernardo, and Vincent are cute mice living a comfortable life in a big old house. But one fine day, oh horror! The humans have brought home a large cat. After brainstorming for a while, the trio hit upon a solution – tie a bell around the cat’s neck. But who will do the brave job? As a team, they try various ways of belling the cat but something or the other always goes awry. However, there’s a twist in the tale, followed by another twist.

This is the kind of story that children are sure to enjoy. It doesn’t become preachy, it is full of silly antics, and the illustrations provide a lot to look at. While not having an outright moral, it still shows kids how not to jump to conclusions based on incorrect assumptions or incomplete date. Give everyone a chance before judging them by their reputation. Knowing the original story will help you appreciate the retelling more, but it isn’t a must.

The illustrations are adorable as well. The animals all have a soft-toy appearance to them, which was kinda ironic as one of them had its own soft toy. 😄 I loved the soft pastel hues of the colourful pages. The only thing I would have added would be some kind of identifying tags to the mice maybe like Alvin and the Chipmunks have. It was tough to identify who was who on most pages.

I read this along with my kids and we had a merry time. They loved the story, found it “so cute”, and have instructed me to give this book 5 stars. But while I loved the fun element in this book, it didn’t ‘wow’ me enough to go beyond 4.25 stars. I will compromise a bit and go with 4.5 stars, which still rounds up to 5. It’s a book for kids after all; what do I know! 😄

Definitely recommended for all little readers looking for a fun picture book. Suitable for ages 2-7.

My thanks to Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “A Better Way to Bell a Cat”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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