THEY ALL SAW A CAT

T. Ryder Smith’s narration is buoyant and cheerful. There is a beat to his steady pacing that mirrors the paw-in-front-of-paw walk of the cat as it moves “through the world with its whiskers, ears, and paws.” The cat meets a myriad of creatures from a child and a dog to a fox, a fish, a bee, a worm, and a bat. Young listeners will delight in the repetition as each animal “sees the cat!” and in the periodic refrain “Yes, they all saw a cat!” Smith’s underscoring of each animal’s name with a momentary pause provides emphasis; it won’t be long before listeners will be chanting to themselves. A.R. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2016]