Calamitous Catitude! Bad Cat by Nicola O'Byrne

Fluffykins is on a tear, one of those calamitous rampages that cats sometimes indulge in!

When a big orange tabby discovers a vase of flowers near the edge of a table, there's only one likely outcome--

CRASH! SPLASH! TINKLE-TINKLE!

"FLUFFIKINS! THAT WASN'T VERY NICE.

DON'T WALK AWAY! I THINK YOU NEED TO APOLOGIZE!"

Fluffikins spots a basketful of colorful yarn balls, just ready for knitting.

But not for long!

No apologies are forthcoming as Fluffikins continues his cantankerous rounds. He rips the upholstery on the sofa, stretches out territorially on the computer keyboard, unreels the toilet tissue in the bathroom, and scales the blinds on the window..., that is, just before he goes potty on the floor.

It's time for some kitty timeout in the great outdoors.

"NOW GO AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Fluffikins' owner has had it. Fluffi is one housekeeping cat-astrophe after another. He cools his paws in the great outdoors while his owner cleans up.

But, wait! Now it's raining repentant cats outdoors--with Fluffikins' desperate, sad, and soggy face at the window!

MEOOOW!

One might expect that about now Fluffikins will morph into an apologetic, purring bundle of fur, but, true to type, once inside, he makes a beeline toward the goldfish bowl..., in this hilarious account of a truly bad cat day. Any one who has raised a cat from cute kittenhood to more cunny catitude will have to laugh at Fluffykins in O'Byrne's latest, Bad Cat! (Candlewick Press, 2021).

The noted O'Byrne's superbly comic artwork is the perfect foil for her one-sided dialogue with a rip-roaring cat, one who can't resist tampering with the lettering on his own title page. Readers who have cats will relish this portrayal of the sly mischief and charm of these mercurial mood-shifting pets, in the illustrator's outsized full- and double-page focus on this rambunctious feline. Although perfect for giggly preschool read-alouds, the brief text and plentitude of visual cues make this story a great choice for emerging readers as well.