Nonfiction Monday: Ragdolls are the best by Elaine Landau

As I wandered through my nonfiction section a short time ago, finding ever more outdated books and gaps, and wondering how I am going to replace and fill in with less than $2000 for the year...I realized we had yet another gap I had somehow not noticed. We have sets of dog breeds. Sets of horse breeds. Sets on raising various farm animals (big 4-H county here). But not on cats. In fact, we have about 3 cat books. Now that I think about it, I was looking for new cat books last year because kids kept asking for them and I found nada.

Apparently, publishers have noticed this and I found several interesting looking series to choose from! I decided to take a look at Lerner's The Best Cats Ever series first, and picked Ragdolls are the best for a sample look.

First, I must say these are the most adorable cats ever! I had never heard of this breed - I'm allergic to cats, so although I like them, I don't interact much. The 32 pages of this information book are full of photographs of absolute fluffiness! There are explanations of the Ragdoll's history, information on famous Ragdolls, descriptions of the cat's coloring, disposition, and some quick facts on cats in history. There's several pages on pros and cons, helping the reader decide if the Ragdoll is a good pet for their family, information on pricing, bringing a new cat home, and general maintenance. There is a glossary and index and a section for more information - although most of the books and websites are fiction and/or general.

This is a colorful and attractive book, perfect for younger kids whose families are thinking of purchasing a cat or just like to look at different kinds of cat breeds.

Verdict: I still have to look at some other series, but this one is a strong contender. Lots of photographs, enough text that older kids won't think it babyish and younger kids won't be daunted. I would have liked to see a little more specific information - a quick google search brought up several websites specific to this breed and I would have rather seen them than the couple fiction books, which didn't seem to have any connection to the book. I'm leaning towards purchasing at least some of the titles in this cat series. I mean, assuming I have money left after I buy new sports books and mythology and sharks and drawing. Sorry kitties.


ISBN: 9780761364283; Published February 2011 by Lerner; ebook provided by publisher through netGalley.