Small Readers: Happy Cat by Steve Henry

This is one of the few I Like to Read titles that I actually liked to read. It's not perfect - there are some better and definitely some worse - but it's perfectly acceptable.

Cat is shivering with cold in a snowy city. He drops in through a basement window and goes up through an apartment building, meeting new friends along the way. On each floor he sees a different apartment and a different animal and gets a present until he finally finds a cozy corner for himself and his new treasures.

The art is cheerful and cluttered, much like the different animals' apartments. Each animal's apartment is crammed with books, paintings, and other signs of their particular hobby.

My main concern about this title is that the minimal text is in a fairly light font and a different position on each page. With the busy art, it tends to disappear into the page and you have to search for the words to read. For a very beginning reader, this is not ideal.

Verdict: As I'm looking to purchase more beginning easy readers and more titles in this series, this is just fine for my needs. Otherwise, I'd say it was an additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780823426591; Published 2013 by Holiday House; Borrowed from another library in my consortium