Windows with Birds by Karen Ritz
The cat loved his home. It had windows filled with birds to watch, hiding places, stairs, and a mouse in the basement. It also had the boy who filled the water dish and scratched just right. The cat would wait for him to return from school. But one day, the boy took the cat to a new home in an apartment building. The cat was not happy. He hid, meowed aloud, and avoided the boy but the boy did not take him back home. The cat was very upset until the morning when he discovered that these windows had birds too!
This is a book that explores the emotional effects of moving from the point of view of a family pet. Children will see their own emotions reflected there in a tangible and relatable way. The illustrations are realistic and filled with loving detail. Sharp-eyed readers will spot a moving box and the moving van before the move comes. Ritz has captured the movements and position of the cat perfectly both in action and repose.
A lovely addition to moving books, this should find its way onto most library shelves. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from library copy.
