Cat Tale. by Michael Hall. All ages. Greenwillow Books. August 2012. 40 pages. ISBN: 978-0061915161 $16.99

The Short:  This is a beautiful book about three cats effectively demonstrating how bizarre the English language can be.  The illustrations are carefully done and they made me slow down and take a long look at each page.  It’s a great book and I enjoyed reading it to my son.  We recommend it!

The Long:  Oh, homophones!  I could go on and on about how weird the English language can be.  Sometimes when I correct my son’s mistakes I find myself getting frustrated because he’s right, logically speaking, but wrong according to the laws of our bizarre language.  There’s not a lot I can do about English’s idiosyncrasies, but I can prepare my son.   This is a great book and a great way to help him navigate our native tongue.

Three cats are playing and find themselves in a word jumble.

They flee a steer.  They steer a plane.  They plane a board.  They board a train. They train a duck to duck a shoe.

The book goes on like this.  The illustrations are simple but effective in demonstrating the wildly different uses of some common words.

This is a great book for young children, older children, and even teens and adults learning English as a second (or third or fourth) language.

There is nothing I feel compelled to edit for my two-year-old son.  It’s a great book and appropriate for all audiences.

Where Obtained:  Public Library

FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5hHRP7Te4w

Read Other Reviews of This Book:

• http://wakingbraincells.com/2012/09/17/review-cat-tale-by-michael-hall/
• http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/08/25/review-of-the-day-cat-tale-by-michael-hall/
• http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2394
• http://www.theresabook.com/2012/08/the-year-of-the-picture-book-cat-tale-by-michael-hall/
• http://www.books4yourkids.com/2012/09/cat-tale-by-michael-hall.html
• http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-hall/cat-tale/