Our Winning Book Synopsis
Our 2020 Giverny Award winner provides a visual treat of a cat’s journey through its world. Within an underscored melodic refrain, vibrant illustrations depict the interactions of the cat and the various animals it encounters.
The story follows a cat on its walk through its environment. The cat first meets a child who pets its back, and then a dog that suspiciously watches it slink away. A fox chases the cat, a fish peers through water at the cat, and a mouse shrinks from an evil monster in terror. Readers travel with the cat as it encounters many different animals and they explore how each animal actually perceives the same cat—both visually and instinctively. How animals see is subtlety examined from a bee’s compound lenses to a snake’s infrared image. Different perspectives are probed also, from an overhead view of a bird in flight, through the microscopic view of a tiny flea, to the subterranean “view” of a worm.
They All Saw a Cat invites the reader to investigate several science concepts, including how various animals see and observe their surroundings, and how their instinctive reactions influence their observations. Perspective, scale, “seeing” by sound, vibration, heat, and reflection are explored and visually documented.
Our 2020 Giverny book is written and illustrated by Brandon Wenzel. In addition to his three children’s books, he has collaborated with others on book illustrations and animations. Brendan notes that he has a “great affection for all things furred, feathered and scaly,” and is a proud conservationist of wild places and animals.
We suspect that no child will reach the end of this book without asking “why?” multiple times! They All Saw a Cat brilliantly inspires questions and further investigations from our youngest scientists.
