The Best Picture Books for Cat Lovers
Just a few years ago, I never would have guessed that we’d be a cat family. I grew up with cats through my childhood, but my wife and I had only ever had dogs - and we were pretty sure she was terribly allergic to cats. But then the pandemic came and everything changed around here.
Fast forward a few years and we now have 4 cats in our house. Luckily, it seems my wife isn’t as allergic as we had thought. And there’s no doubt about it - we are definitely a cat family now. Our kids are very in love with them. Our 9-year-old in particular has grown a very special bond with his cat, Phantom, and it’s very heartwarming to see. That’s what having pets in the family is all about.
It makes me happy that my kids are growing up with cats in the house as well dogs. I’m sure there are plenty of interesting psychological studies out there about who grew up with cats and who grew up with dogs, and I bet there’s a lot of truth to the stereotypes as well.
Without a doubt I think that cats teach kids how to be gentle and calm and kind. They can also be pretty fickle and independent, so I think there’s probably a shred of truth in the theory that cats can teach you to be more of a giver and less self-absorbed.
So, as you can imagine, this new development in our house has made cat-themed everything quite popular around here. Books, board games, puzzles, TV shows, movies - if they feature cats we’re all about it at the moment. In the meantime, our collection of picture books about cats has ballooned quite a bit in the last few years, and we’re ready to talk about our favorites.
We’ve collected all of our favorite picture books about cats for kids into this handy list. It includes a few classics, but many of these picture books are pretty new too. A lot of them do a wonderful job highlighting the delightful eccentricities of cats that we all love - which of course make for pretty entertaining comedy.
Many of the books also do a great job capturing the feeling of why we all love cats in the first place. I hope all you cat lovers out there enjoy our list of cat picture books, and if you have little cat lovers in the house like we do, I hope you find a great new picture book to quench their insatiable desire for cat stories!
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Negative Cat
Written and Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
One of our very favorite picture books of 2021, Negative Cat is based on the true story of a program where kids come to an animal shelter to read to cats. And this story focuses on one relationship in particular - a boy and his grumpy cat that he adopts.
This book is simultaneously a love letter to both cats and kids literature - with some famous cat books even featured in the illustrations. It’s a celebration of the importance of literacy and supporting the important work of local animal shelters - and that’s a pretty wonderful combination as far as I’m concerned. Cat lovers and book lovers will fall in love with this one quite easily.
Millions of Cats
Written and Illustrated by Wanda Gág
An all-time American picture book classic - Millions of Cats simply must be a part of any list of picture books about cats. Not only is it one of the first books that will pop into anyone’s heads when asked about cat picture books, but it also holds up remarkably well after all these years. Kids still love repeating “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”
I think this book also does a good job describing how it’s hard to only choose 1 cat. It’s like looking in the mirror for us, watching the old man grab another cat, and another cat, and another. It’s okay, old man, I totally get! We would have brought home all the cats too.
Inside Cat
Written and Illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
Inside Cat is a return to cat picture books for Brendan Wenzel after his Caldecott-Honor-winning They All Saw a Cat. Once again, point-of-view comes into play in this book in a big way. This inside cat sees the entire world through windows in the house, and the details in the art are delightful.
It’s a beautiful book that wonderfully captures the imagination and experiences of this inside cat. It’s easy to imagine our own inside cats, each with their own favorite doors and windows to look out from. And it’s fun to imagine how they interpret the things they see. This is definitely another one for the cat-lover’s collection.
The Little Kitten
Written and Illustrated by Nicola Killen
Believe me, if there’s ever a good excuse to mention Halloween, I’m going to find a way to sneak it in. The Little Kitten doesn’t really give away the theme in the title, but you can tell from the pumpkin, the costumed-child, and the falling leaves on the cover that this is probably a Halloween cat.
Ollie finds a lost kitten and then tries to find where he lives. It turns out, the cat belongs to a witch, and I like how that fact is revealed in a subtle way that you can miss if you aren’t paying attention to the illustrations. This one is really appealing to me, because it has spooky-adjacent things like Halloween, witches, and getting lost in the woods. But it also features a lot of kitty love - with lots of cuddles and playing and appreciation for our cat friends.
Kitten’s First Full Moon
Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Kitten’s First Full Moon is a pretty well-known cat picture book because it actually won the Caldecott Medal. It features a little kitten who sees the moon and thinks it’s a big bowl of milk. She goes on a little adventure trying, unsuccessfully, to get that big bowl of milk she sees in the sky.
It’s a cute book that’s very easy to imagine with your own little kitten as the main character. Lots of good cat details like wiggling their bottoms while hunting before springing into action. Of course there is also lots of fun perspective to discover with kids - like the really big bowl of milk being reflected onto the pond by the moon. By the end everyone just wants this poor kitty to get her milk.
Cat’s First Baby
Written and Illustrated by Natalie Nelson
When you come across board books these days, I know it can be hard to tell by the cover what kind of book you’re in for. Is this just going to be one of those baby books with a single word on each page with no story to speak of? What kind of entertainment value are we talking about here? Well Cat’s First Baby is one of those board books that turns out to be a very pleasant surprise. It’s actually quite funny!
Cat’s First Baby features a cat trying to figure out what the new baby is. Is it a cat? It doesn’t look like a cat. But they do have lots of similarities. And that’s mostly what the cat focuses on. Comparing the cat and the baby turns out to be very funny, and actually very sweet as well. This one and the companion Dog’s First Baby are both terrific board books for pet lovers.
Cats!
Written by Dr. John Hutton and Illustrated by Doug Cenko
Cats! belongs to a series of board books designed for dialogic reading - meaning that they help you have a dialogue with your kids during the read aloud and get kids more engaged with the reading. They hold a special place in our heart now because both of our kids enjoyed them very much, they taught me about interesting pedagogy, and now my 9-year-old still insists on keeping them in his bookshelf in his room.
Inside you’ll find adorable art by Doug Cenko, and lots of questions and fill-in-the-blanks that will get your kids talking while you read together. If you’re shopping for a little cat lover then I highly recommend starting here! And make sure to check out the counterpart Dogs! as well! They’re adorable and serve as a great lesson in engaged reading for parents.
A Brave Cat
Written and Illustrated by Marianna Coppo
Cat picture books are probably so good because cats are such a great source of humor. It seems like it’s harder to make a funny dog book, because cats are so quirky and silly and unexplainable. They’re perfect targets for dry humor because they’re all tiny house cats that think they’re huge lions. And, at the end of the day, perhaps it’s cat owners who are the perfect targets for the jokes, since we’ve willingly taken these confident, self-absorbed, unapologetic creatures into our home, and give them whatever they want.
A Brave Cat is another fantastic example of a cat book that just gets it. Olivia is an indoor cat, but she’s still a brave adventurer, and a fearless explorer. And she’s a hunter, through and through. She just does it all inside. She’s thinking about venturing outside though! Everyone will see their cats in Olivia. The book features lots of the cute feline eccentricities that we all know and love, and that we’ll always keep putting up with.
They All Saw a Cat
Written and Illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
Brendan Wenzel’s Caldecott-Honor-winning They All Saw a Cat is all about perspective, and it’s genius and tremendous fun. Basically, the book simply covers what a cat looks like to different creatures. What does a cat look like to a mouse? What does it look like to a fish? What about a bee?
The best part of the book, other than the creativity on display, is how it opens up the possibility of a lot of conversations. Why does the cat look like this to a mouse? Why does the bee see with all those dots on the page? So not only is it cute and entertaining and funny, but it also legitimately sets up a learning opportunity as well. This one definitely deserved the honors it got.
The Cat Man of Aleppo
Written by Irene Latham & Karim Shamsi-Basha and Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu
Now here is the kind of picture book that cat lovers are really going to appreciate. This is a true story that will melt the hearts of cat people all over the world, and it’s yet another Caldecott-Honor-winner. I suppose the Caldecott committee just really likes cats. And the illustrations here really are very special and touching.
Alaa is an ambulance driver in Aleppo, and when war comes to Syria, he doesn’t flea. He stays to help. And he soon realizes that it’s not just the people who need help. There are now tons of abandoned cats in the city. Their family’s have left and their homes have been destroyed. He uses the little money he has to buy them food, and soon his love for the cats multiplies into something very special. Donations pour in from all over the world - enough to build a cat sanctuary and take care of all the cats in Aleppo.
Everybody Says Meow
Written and Illustrated by Constance Lombardo
This one cracks my kids up. It’s definitely a comedy with a really good sense of timing. The cats just want everyone to say “meow”, but other animals keep messing up their plans. Sometimes we just need to laugh, and this is one to grab if you’re on the hunt for funny cat books.
The art is cute and the characters are easy to love, but, like I mentioned, what makes this a special one for my family is the timing of the humor. The way it’s written, it makes for a really great read aloud, which always make the kids laugh out loud. There’s also a good sense of humor with the illustrations - with one really funny and effective zoom-in on the cat’s face.
Max Attacks
Written by Kathi Appelt and Illustrated by Penelope Dullaghan
I really love the design of Max a lot, and this book is full of gorgeous illustrations. And this is another very funny cat book. Every cat spends some time in hunting mode, and Max is very much in a wild mood in this book. The first thing that catches his eye is the fish bowl, but the cute thing in this book is that Max keeps getting distracted by something else before he eats the fish.
Window curtains, laundry baskets full of socks, a bowl of crunchies - there’s a lot to get distracted by. It’s a hilariously accurate portrayal of the cat’s attention span, and the way the book keeps score in all of his fights is a really funny use repetition and structure. It’s also very cute when Max finally gets tuckered out. This is one of those books you can tell were made by cat lovers.
Bathe the Cat
Written by Alice B. McGinty and Illustrated by David Roberts
This new release is getting a lot of much-deserved attention for being hysterical, and it’s definitely true. It’s really a lot of fun, and kids have a lot of fun with the humor. The comedy comes from misunderstandings, and our kids love the word games and chaos that ensues. It really is a fantastic read aloud.
It’s supposed to be a day of housework, and dad is listing off all of the chores that everyone needs to do - mop the floor, scrub the dishes, vacuum the rug, etc. But the family cat doesn’t like the last item on the list - bathe the cat. So he mixes up all of the chores that were written with refrigerator magnets. So now we have chores like feed the floor, sweep the dishes, rock the rug, and mow the cat. Mow the cat? That doesn’t sound good. Now he needs to mix those chores up again…
While reading this one out loud, my kids have fun figuring out what mixed-up chores were supposed to be while simultaneously cracking up. I have to say, the illustrations are pretty remarkable as well. With very little talk about the characters at all, it’s remarkable that they’re so endearing and full of love.
Strange Planet: The Sneaking, Hiding, Vibrating Creature
Written and Illustrated by Nathan W. Pyle
If you’re looking for pure, hilarious cat-themed comedy, this is the picture book for you. Strange Planet is a comic strip of aliens who are trying to figure out life on Earth. They describe everything they see and do in a hysterically dry, objective, and scientific way, and the pet cat is the perfect subject for this comedic style.
As we all know, the behaviors of cats are a bit on the eccentric side. Their choices aren’t always the easiest things to explain, and that’s what makes having aliens explain cats so funny. The title alone should be a pretty good indicator of what you’re in store for here. But some of our descriptions are the use of deathblades on the group-soft-seat, and the way the creature knocks the hydration cylinder off the table for no reason. My 9-year-old thinks Strange Planet is just one of the funniest things in the world, so a cat-focused book is pretty perfect for him.
Cat Problems
Written by Jory John and Illustrated by Lane Smith
Cat Problems is another cat-centered comedy, and I guess by this point it’s safe to assume we all just think cats are hilarious. They do provide pretty good material for comedy, and Cat Problems is definitely one of the very best books for identifying many of these funny habits that cat owners everywhere will instantly recognize.
Vacuums, sunbeams, being woken up after only 19 hours of sleep - these are cat problems. And don’t forget about the other cat in the house being in your spot, and then your second spot, and then your third spot. Jory John is an expert at identifying these hilarious cat habits. Perhaps my favorite moment is when the cat is standing in the middle of nowhere just staring at a wall. “Why am I even standing here. Like, this is pretty random, even for me.”
Atticus Caticus
Written by Sarah Maizes and Illustrated by Kara Kramer
This very catchy lyrical book is the type of book that will have my 5-year-old walking around the house reciting it. I think that goes to show just how much she enjoys it and how much of an earworm it is. Throughout the book there is a play on Atticus Caticus’ name. When he eats his food quickly he’s “Atticus Catticus tummy so fat-ticus,” and when he lays down for a nap he’s “Atticus Caticus, flat-a-tat-tat-ticus.”
But it’s also a very sweet book about a boy and his cat. It reminds me very much of my 9-year-old and his special bond with Phantom. It’s very heartwarming and the illustrations are quite unique and beautiful. And I love it when Atticus Caticus curls up on the boys head at night just like our silly cats do - “Atticus Caticus is a hat-a-tat-taticus.”
Camp Tiger
Written by Susan Choi and Illustrated by John Rocco
You can’t have a cat list without some big cats, right? Camp Tiger is about a boy who is about to start the first grade. He doesn’t want to leave kindergarten though, he likes choice time and building with blocks. And, if you know anything about my thoughts on education, you know that that’s all I need to hear to be very invested in what’s going to happen in this story. I’m a huge believer in letting kids be kids, and my heart’s breaking for this kid already.
His family is going on their annual camping vacation right before school starts, and on the trip he meets a wild talking tiger. Nobody is very surprised by this development at all, and they even set up a tent for the tiger to join them. It definitely makes you wonder if this is a Calvin & Hobbes situation going on, and makes you question if the tiger really exists.
The first thing you’ll notice about this book is how spectacular the water color illustrations are. It’s really stunning. And it’s such a beautiful story about growing up - leaving a little bit of childhood behind with growing independence. And the tiger himself is such a wonderful character - with a zen-like quality similar to Stillwater the Giant Panda. And did I mention it’s gorgeous?
For more cat-themed ideas, make sure to check out our list of the best board games for cat lovers!
Do you have any cat lovers in your family? What’s your favorite picture book about cats? Let us know in the comments!
