Life Lessons According to Cats
By Deb Snyder, PhD
AngelBaby Press, $14.95, 32 pages
Cats are pretty fantastic – that’s no secret. Many kids have a cat or two (or three!) as pets and as a part of their family. Deb Snyder is an author, a mom, a spiritual teacher and a student of metaphysical philosophy who believes that cats can help us live a happy, heart-centered life. But studying the behavior of the cats in her own life, Snyder came to understand that they seem to possess the secret to happiness.
In her book The Dogma of Cats for Kids, Snyder uses prose to introduce children to the important life lessons that cats can share with us. She begins by explaining what dogma means (a belief or a way). This concept may still be hard to grasp for young readers, but it doesn’t distract from the book’s messages. Lessons include expressing gratitude (cats do it through purrs and snuggles), finding fun in everything (cats chase a butterfly, play with yarn, stretch and snooze), knowing when to rest (catnaps!), being open to making new friends (cats are social creatures) and climbing to new heights to find a new view (so that’s what cats are doing when they climb trees!). Not every lesson has a direct link to a specific cat behavior or trait.
The illustrations are basically selected from a clip art program – different generic colorful cat images. Parents will notice that Snyder makes some odd grammatical choices and some of her sentences are incomplete. This is a cute book for cat lovers with young kids looking to introduce some important life lessons.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Franklin
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