Good for a junior book. Reminded me of the books I used to read when I was young. Lots of fun. ( )

Good for a junior book. Reminded me of the books I used to read when I was young. Lots of fun. ( )

This is a page turning children's book about a boy who is unhappy with his life, wishes to be a cat - and gets his wish! This unlocks the discovery that the whole world is full of cats who have turned into people, and people who have turned into cats.

A growing up and learning 'my life is not as bad as I thought it was' book with themes of bullying and divorce.

The Bad Guy is surprisingly bad and scary, she has killed the previous headmistress she is pretending to be and is using her skull as a pen pot on her office desk. Also, I did not expect the resolution to 'I wish my parents still lived together' to be 'he's much less annoying as a cat, he can move back in'. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this to my 9yo, who also enjoyed it too. It led to debates about whether some people are cats or not - and for a while there we believed they might be!

A fast paced, well-written, suspense-filled story about a boy Barney whose wish to become a cat comes true, and he realises that it's not always a good thing to get what you wish for. The underline message in this book is an important one: it is about accepting yourself and enjoy being who you are, because you are unique. In today's world children really struggle to remain true to who they are, wanting to fit in and make friends, especially with technology making it more difficult to connect and socialise in person.

This book also tells the story of the bully - the truth about who they are and why they behave as they do. I really liked the characters, they were easy to engage with and to have an strong emotions about: the horrible Miss Whipmire, and Barney's lovely best friend Rissa. It was full of twists in the plot too, and the mystery of the identity of the Terrorcat. There was so much to enjoy.

I would highly recommend this book. And I am rapidly becoming a Matt Haig fan.
( )

I picked this title to use with my Chatterbooks group in June. As it happens, circumstances have changed and we'll be doing something else in June, but I'm not abandoning it. I'll be holding this one over for July.
As a cat lover, I was intrigued by the idea, and I really enjoyed the originality of the story. From cute touches such as the 'flip book' cat on the corner of every page, to the horrors of Miss Whipmire's pen pot, this story has something for everyone. A kids' book many adults will enjoy too. A story to make you count your blessings.
Be careful what you wish for indeed. ( )