They All Saw a Cat

Wenzel, Brendan. They All Saw a Cat. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2016.

Everyone has their own perspective on life and the things they see. They All Saw a Cat shows how different beings in nature view the cat. With each viewing of the cat, author/illustrator Brendan Wenzel using a different medium to portray the cat as well as portraying the cat in a little different way. The dog sees a cat slinking away. The fish sees the cat as a somewhat blurry being. The flea sees the cat as a rather large being. They All Saw a Cat is a delightful story on perspective. We all see things differently and it is possible that none of us see things completely accurately. They All Saw a Cat helps children understand this concept. My favorite spread of this picture book is the one where Brendan Wenzel portrays the cat as a little bit of how each of the other characters saw him.

The mediums used in creating the artwork include: colored pencils, markers, pastels, acrylic paints, water color and more. The book could be an art springboard into having students create art as viewed from different perspectives and how the same object might look differently to different things.

Brendan Wenzel was awarded the Caldecott Honor for his illustrations of They All Saw a Cat. Chronicle Books has a Activity Kit and a Discussion Guide available on their web site. I think it is great that some publishers help teachers and librarians use books with their students.

I would not hesitate to add They All Saw a Cat to my school library. This picture book is on this year’s Land of Enchantment list.

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