Cat Tale
They flee a steer / they steer a plane / they plane a board / they board a train.
Lillian, Tilly, and William J. are inquisitive cats spending an afternoon snacking and reading, but wind up chasing words, including homophones and homonyms, on a silly tongue twister of an adventure!
selected reviews
“Eye-poppingly bright and friendly … a twisty, imaginative story … with ‘read it again’ magic.” — New York Times (starred review)
“A wacky and thought-provoking read-aloud, one that’s likely to become a favorite.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Hall’s sentences trip lightly off the tongue; his paper cutout creatures delight the eye. Fun abounds from start to finish in this creative circus showcasing the wildly inventive ways we can play with words.” — Children’s Literature
“Hall’s book of wordplay featuring homophones and homonyms is deceptively simple in appearance but sophisticated in concept.” — School Library Journal
“Smart and accessible, charming and witty, this is one for educators and adventurers alike.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Hall’s latest outing is entertaining both for its unusual cast of characters and its amusing yarn-spinning. … This could entertain a group, who will giggle at … this clever tale.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Wielding homonyms like weapons, Hall brings his artistic sensibilities (to say nothing of his love of controlled chaos) to the wordplay realm and the end result is that everyone’s a winner for it.” — Elizabeth Bird
“[Cat Tale] has such a breezy, infectiously lyrical, and rib-tickling tasty text that I am quite tempted to commit it to memory.” — Richie’s Picks
“Read-alouds, like the book itself, should devolve into ridiculous shenanigans.” — Booklist
awards and recognition
Kirkus Reviews Best of 2012
resources
Cat Tale teaching guide
purchase links:
Greenwillow Books, 2012, hardcover, 40 pages,
978-0-06191-516-1