Naughty Kitty by Adam Stower

Published: 1st July 2012
Publisher: Templar Books
Illustrator: Adam Stower
Pages: 33
Format: Paperback Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Star

Lily’s mum finally agrees to buy her a new pet – but it’s not a doggy, it’s a kitten. When things start to go wrong around the house, Lily is quick to blame her new furry friend.

One. Kitty is the cutest kitten ever. Stower’s illustrations are the best. I love how he has managed to convey a confused kitty, a perplexed kitty, and a kitty looking innocent in the face of accusation.

Two. The actual story is wonderful as well. Reading this story is fun on numerous levels, not only are the pictures fun to look at, but each page gives us a chance to see what “Kitty” actually did, and seeing poor Lily become exasperated at her poor disobedient cat is delightful.

Genuinely I could stare at the illustrations all day. Combined with Lily’s desire to punish her kitten, the cat itself looks bewildered and the true culprit lurking adds to the humour and certainly my delight.

Stower’s captured the tone and voice of a small child and I could hear Lily’s voice as she scolded her kitten and I pictured this child berating her cat as she tried to stop its destructive behaviours. The story is adorable, especially when the dramatic irony comes into play. Who doesn’t love it when picture books contain dramatic irony?

This would be a great book to read aloud because with such wonderful and detailed illustrations, there is a lot to unpack as you read and it becomes interactive as kids see who really caused the messes.

I discovered this is a sequel when I’d finished, I may have to track down the first one because if it’s anything as good as this, I’ll be quite happy.

You can purchase Naughty Kitty via the following

Booktopia | Book Depository

Angus and Robinson | Wordery

Fishpond | Amazon