By Christine McFaul
Calling all cat lovers! The Bookstore Cat is a new-ish picture book (2020) written by Cylin Busby and illustrated by Charles Santoso. An alphabet book for readers aged 3-5 and such a well-loved read in our house, I had to share.
Inspired by a Victorian Parlour game, the book’s simple concept is to describe the Bookstore Cat using each letter of the alphabet. The bookstore cat is an adorable cat … and also bossy, cuddly, darting, and so much more, as this book brings its feline bibliophile to life with clever, perfectly chosen descriptors from A to Z.
The illustrations are warm and expressive and add an additional level of humour with perfectly captured cat-ty details that never fail to have my own little bookworms laughing out loud no matter how many times we re-read.
A note, the letters in this book are lowercase, making it a perfect learning tool for children who have already mastered their uppercase alphabet. Or, to add another layer of learning, try playing your own version of the Bookstore Cat game by using the handy set of instructions provided by the author.
An irresistible read from A to Z. I’m usually more of a dog person, but for The Bookstore Cat I will make an exception.