…and why you will too
A cat and a rat engage in a battle of wits as they try to take possession of a much-coveted hat. When a bat appears, wearing an attractive cravat, who will emerge as the best-dressed of the trio? The Cat and the Rat and the Hat is a fresh and fast-paced, comic caper and a riveting, roller-coaster of a read! Find out why we love this enormously entertaining, playful and inventive take on traditional nursery rhyme, 'The House that Jack Built.'
It’s extremely funny A zany and action-packed text is brought to life brilliantly by animated images. The animals' behaviour is hilarious, as are their facial expressions, their dreams and how they interact with one another. It all makes for comedy gold and pure picture book magic.
The wordplay is fantastic Author Em Lynas manages to create a complex story using a lot of the same, simple words. There’s plenty of rhyming, repetition and alliteration, which children adore, and which also helps them to learn spelling and phonics.
It has an interesting design The text appears upside down at times and the book also flips on its side which makes the story even more unusual and immersive.
The illustrations are amazing Matt Hunt's energetic artwork is fabulous. There’s so much happening on every page and just look at that limited colour palette – isn’t it stunning? The synergy between the text and the images is incredible! As they work so well together, I was surprised to discover this wasn’t written and illustrated by the same person.
It’s so theatrical This story has a pantomime-like quality which makes it ideal for reading aloud and keeping a young audience engaged. It’s perfect for use in nurseries and classrooms as well as enjoying at home, and guaranteed to be unlike anything else on your bookshelf!
About the author:
Em Lynas is a children’s author with a love of silly poetry, magic, dragons and folklore. Em has been a shelf stacker, a shoe shop assistant, a primary school teacher, a mum, an educational publisher and now, an author of funny books. She lives by the seaside with her husband Geoff, on the UK's North-East coast.
About the illustrator: Matt Hunt was born in Redditch, Worcestershire in 1988. Starting out as a fine artist, he graduated from the Birmingham School of Art, and from these roots, developed a love for children’s illustration. He loves to create new and interesting characters and write stories for them.
The Cat and the Rat and the Hat was published by Nosy Crow in July 2021 - see this book on the publisher's website As with all Nosy Crow picture books, this comes with a free 'Stories Aloud' digital audiobook download. A huge thank you to the lovely people in Nosy Crow for sharing this beautiful book with us - all opinions expressed are our own.
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