"A marvelous debut...Sometimes it takes the right nudge to fall in love with books." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This quirky tale filled with subtle humor makes a fun read-aloud, especially for cat lovers, literacy lovers, or anyone looking for a great story." --School Library Journal (starred review)

It's not easy to teach a cat to read, but one boy tries to anyway in this sweet and silly picture book debut that captures the challenges and rewards of learning to read.

Nick loves to read books--and he loves to play with his cats, Verne and Stevenson. So naturally Nick decides it's a great idea to teach his cats to read. But Verne and Stevenson don't appreciate when Nick wakes them up with a flashcard that says NAP. Nick finally piques Verne's interest with words like MOUSE and FISH. But not Stevenson's. While Nick and Verne go to the library, Stevenson hides under the porch. Will Nick ever find a way to share his love of reading with his feline friends?

This book has been graded for interest at 4-8 years.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2016 by Simon & Schuster .

Curtis Manley grew up in Pennsylvania, where there were bears in the woods (and perhaps a few dinosaurs at school). But he never had to outrun sharks during recess--though he's absolutely certain he could have. Curtis now lives near Seattle, Washington. Kate Berube is a children's book illustrator and writer living in Portland, Oregon and the creator of Tater Totter, a zine for children. She works at Powell's.