Count On It

Lewin, Betsy. 1981. CAT COUNT. New York: Henry Hold and Company. ISBN 978-0805067477

This is a fun feline book to read with children of all ages. Lewin creates a whimsical cast of cat characters with her artwork while simultaneously weaving a web of rhyme and repetition that captures children’s imaginations. Booklist said “children just learning how to count will be entranced by this colorful, energetic book” (Foote 2003). I couldn’t agree more.

As the book progresses, the narrator introduces more and more cats. In the upper right hand corner of each page where new cats are introduced, a plus sign followed by the number of cats invites readers to add the cats as they go. At the end of several pages, the narrator asks the reader to count the cats that have been introduced in the story so far. This happens three different times throughout the story. Instead of giving a total of all the cats in the book at the end of the third section, the final words of the book are “Too many cats!” But—surprise! The copyright page has a cat staring at the addition equation for all three sections just above the publication information. Now we know how many cats.

Lewin’s fast-moving, short lines are punctuated with a heavy end rhyme that creates a steady rhythm reminiscent of Dr. Seuss. Speaking of end rhyme, count how many times she uses the word “cat” if you dare (hint: it’s more than 40!). I got a little tired of the word "cat" after a while, and I wonder if she could have come up with more rhymes instead of using the word so much. Still, she somehow smoothly transitions between scenes of cats in church, cats at a disco, cats on a high wire, and cats in tophats. Lewin does a great job of creating a sense of movement with her illustrations, capturing the effect of lights splashing across a dance floor, falling confetti, and the ferocity of cats knitting the night away. And just when you think the cast of cat characters is complete, our first cat character has kittens. Now we can see Lewin’s foreshadowing from page one: the first cat had been described as "fat."

I read this to both my four- and ten-year-old daughters. Both girls enjoyed the book. My four-year-old is actually quite interested in math and numbers, and she was thrilled to be able to count along in the first section. After the numbers got too high for her, she started counting the cats on individual pages instead, and that held her attention throughout the book. My ten-year-old enjoyed counting throughout the whole book, and she obviously comprehended the addition equations at the end with more sophistication than my four-year-old. It was a nice book that both girls asked to read again. I highly recommend this book.

Foote, Diane. 2003. Booklist 99(15). April 1. Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database, Texas Woman’s University. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:4529/index.php/bookdetail/indexpage=1&pos=0&isbn=9780805067477