December 30, 1996
Those who liked Rylant's Dog Heaven will undoubtedly welcome this companion volume, which is similar in its themes and execution. The text, this time in rhyme, has the same complement of sentimentality; the art again consists of bright, cheery paintings rendered in a primitive style. Detractors, however, will note the same weaknesses present in the earlier volume. The language seems coy or precious: "The way to Cat Heaven/ is a field of sweet grass/ where crickets/ and butterflies play..../ There's just so much fun on the way!" The rhymes often strain: when a cat needs to "just simply ponder," Rylant says, "she will watch the old house/ where she once lived and wandered." Here God is multicultural--his face alternates between pink, brown and beige on different pages--and he really likes cats. God sits reading in Cat Heaven, where cats "are so loved and spoiled/ God lets them all/ lie on His bed," and when he walks in his garden there is "a kitty asleep on His head." Whether or not this view of heaven will please the clergy or be helpful to children who have lost pets, Rylant's feel-good book is bound to appeal to adults whose taste in reading is dominated by a pronounced sweet tooth. A surer bet for Rylant fans is The Blue Hill Meadows (reviewed below). All ages.
October 1, 1997
PreS-Gr 2-Cat Heaven sounds like paradise. A rhyming text describes a realm in which felines are fed from God's countertop, a place where they no longer get stuck in trees because now they can fly. There are thousands of toys, and soft angel laps in which to cuddle. There is even a quiet time to look back on former homes and loving people. The primitive, childlike painting style is similar to Rylant's work in Dog Heaven (Scholastic, 1995). Both books serve the same purpose of comforting anyone mourning a lost pet, but the writing flows more easily and the pictures are more mature in Cat Heaven. The story has spiritualism and reverence but not in a traditional manner. God is depicted as a kindly older man who washes the cats' bowls and "walks in His garden with a good black book and a kitty asleep on His head." His coloring varies from pink to brown to yellowish tan. The visual impact of the book is stunning. Cats of all colors frolic through the exuberantly hued pages. Vibrant yellows, blues, reds, purples, and greens create a feast for the eyes. Even the color of the text changes to contrast with the background. Whether read as a story to younger children or used in a discussion of the nature of heaven with older ones, this deceptively simple, sweet book is rewarding.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
September 1, 1997
Ages 4^-8. A companion to "Dog Heaven" (1995), this cheerful rhyme describes a cat's afterlife of angels' laps and kitty toys and a God who walks in His garden "with a kitty asleep on His head." Rylant's bright, quirky paintings are full of cutout stars and broad swathes of color, and her cats are of every imaginable stripe. Rylant is not for all tastes, but she deftly skirts the edge of cute here without tumbling over and provides a terrific answer for the child who longs to know where a beloved pet might spend eternity. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)