Rambunctious, filled with superbly executed details (look for Seymour when Splat pulls his mildly sheer sheets over his head), this book not only gets its job done, it completely transcends its agenda.

Naturally, everything works out before the dismissal bell rings, but not before a chase sequence guaranteed to bring down the house. Splat the cat accidently succeeds in being the scariest cat in the class for Halloween. For courage, Splat secretly brings along his pet mouse, Seymour, and is astounded when the day's lesson includes the news that cats chase mice (to Splat's multiple “Why?”s, the teacher offers a finite “Because”). Right away the art signals off-kilter: using a predominantly blue-gray palette, enlivened by only one or two contrast colors per page, Scotton evokes the black cat Splat in almost 3D renderings, the cat's hairs seemingly standing on edge, eyes bulging apprehensively as he contemplates his first appearance at Cat School.

This will prime children that books and the library are a resource to gather information on subjects.Working in the same edgy style of his Russell the Sheep books, Scotton once again wrests new opportunities for humor from a well-worn theme, this time training his sights on first-day-of-school anxiety. The teacher, Mrs Wimpydimple, introduces Splat to the class and he soon starts learning all his important cat lessons. What if he doesn't make any new friends Just in case, Splat decides to bring along his pet mouse, Seymour, and hides him in his lunch box. After reading this book, children could go to their own library to investigate a topic the class is interested in. Meet Splat the Cat It's Splat the Cat's first day of school and he's worried. I also love that the characters gather information by going to the library. It appropriately depicts the plant cycle and teaches about proper plant care. This book would be a great introduction for a science unit, as it includes a variety of scientifically appropriate terms (stem, bloom, bud) in the context of a fiction story. They almost give up, until a small sprout emerges from the soil! They take good care of the plant and discover that it was a seed for a flower. They imagine that it might become a big tree or an exotic plant. After learning about growing plants from books and the librarian, they bury the seed and keep a watchful eye over it. Splat and Seymour have no idea what the seed will grow into, so they go to the library to look up information. The book was made into an animated 9-minute short in 2010 by Weston Wood Studios, with animation by Soup2Nuts. Oopsie-Daisy is another adventure of Splat the Cat and begins when his pet mouse, Seymour, finds a seed. Splat the Cat is a 2008 childrens picture book by Rob Scotton.

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