Stick Cat: A Tail of Two Kitties

by Tom Watson

Overview

There’s a new pet in town: Stick Cat!

Perfect for fans of the Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Timmy Failure, and Stick Dog books, Stick Cat features Tom Watson’s trademark combination of laughs, adventure, and hilarious stick-figure drawings.

It’s a big day in the big city for Stick Cat and his best friend, Edith. There are treasures to hunt, songs to sing, pigeons to catch, and naps to take. But way up on the twenty-third floor, danger lurks just around the corner. Terrible noises and violent crashes trap a desperate man in the building across the alley. Stick Cat will need to navigate his way across the alley—and around Edith’s peculiar ways—to attempt a rescue.

Stick Cat’s high-wire act is sure to please cat lovers and Stick Dog fans everywhere—even reluctant readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062411006
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Series:	Priemnyj pokoj , #1
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	41,524
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	690L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tom Watson lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter, and son. He also has a dog, as you could probably guess. The dog is a Labrador-Newfoundland mix. Tom says he looks like a Labrador with a bad perm. He wanted to name the dog "Put Your Shirt On" (please don't ask why), but he was outvoted by his family. The dog's name is Shadow. Early in his career Tom worked in politics, including a stint as the chief speechwriter for the governor of Ohio. This experience helped him develop the unique, storytelling narrative style of the Stick Dog books. More important, Tom's time in politics made him realize a very important thing: Kids are way smarter than adults. And it's a lot more fun and rewarding to write stories for them than to write speeches for grown-ups.

Editorial Reviews

Watson’s knack for incredibly endearing characters means that readers will be invested in Stick Cat and Edith from the first page.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

This sequel to Stick Dog (2013) will have readers diving in and then begging for more adventures—canine, feline, or otherwise. The simple drawings might also inspire young readers to try their own hands at illustration. Chapters frequently end with cliff-hangers of sorts, encouraging readers to predict what might happen next.

Booklist

11/01/2015
Gr 3–6—This volume opens with the narrator addressing readers, begging for understanding about his mediocre drawing skills; he then describes an encounter with an "interesting" female classmate that inspired him to try a story about cats instead of writing another episode in the life of Stick Dog. A city dweller, Stick Cat lives in an apartment on the 23rd floor, and while his human roommate is at work, he spends his time with Edith, the next-door neighbor's cat. One day, as they are sitting in the window and enjoying the music coming from the piano factory across the alley, they notice that the musician has become trapped in the piano. Stick Cat realizes that they are the only ones that are aware of the man's predicament, and the two feline friends embark on a daring quest to save him. Like his canine counterpart, Stick Cat is clever and resourceful, but he must be very careful not to hurt the feelings of sensitive Edith when she shares her more harebrained ideas. Peppered with funny cartoonlike illustrations, this amusing and exciting story will have readers turning pages quickly to discover how the rescue attempt will end for these two brave and endearing cats. VERDICT Fans of Watson's "Stick Dog" series (Harper) and Nick Bruel's "Bad Kitty" chapter books (Macmillan) will especially enjoy this comical adventure; it will also appeal broadly to lovers of zany humor.—Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY

School Library Journal

2016-01-20
When disaster strikes in the high-rise across the street, what can two kitties do? Stick Cat lives with his human, Goose, on the 23rd floor of an apartment building in the city. Goose goes to work each day, but Stick Cat spends his free time with Edith, the chubby, dimwitted cat from the apartment next door, who squeezes (with difficulty) through a hole in the cabinet under the bathroom sink. They play StareDown and listen to Mr. Music tuning and playing pianos in the piano factory directly across the street. When Mr. Music's arms become trapped in a piano, Stick Cat knows they are the only ones who can help…but how? First he has to carefully talk Edith out of harebrained schemes like grabbing the legs of two pigeons and flying over. Can Stick Cat save the day? Watson jumps the species barrier, moving from suburban stray Stick Dog (2013) and his loopy friends to an urban kitty. Transitioning smoothly are the plentiful line drawings and the humor of misunderstanding. Fans of Stick Dog will enjoy this series kickoff whether they are cat kids or dog kids. Stick Cat…drawn to be a hero. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews