A small girl shares stories of life with her loved cat, Poppy Cat. Poppy Cat follows her around and shares many of her daily activities. But each of them likes to do things by themselves too, with varying levels of success. Poppy Cat begins with early morning happiness and ends with bedtime happiness, shared with a pet. Illustrations are loose watercolours with black outline. Images sit in white space.
Poppy Cat is a gentle story of a child and her pet, the two of them learning and sharing throughout an ordinary day. The mischief Poppy Cat gets to is seen as humourous rather than troublesome and there appears to be an understanding that everyone needs time on their own. The white space in which the simple text and images are set allows the reader to make this story their own. It’s a slow-down-and-live-in-the-moment story, revelling in the simplicity of everyday. Recommended for pre- and early schoolers.
Poppy Cat, Sara Acton Scholastic Press 2014 ISBN: 9781743620168
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller