Now It Can Be Told: That Cat Can’t Stay Is Out!

Now It Can Be Told: That Cat Can’t Stay Is Out!

Out on the bookshelves, that is.

I’ve been sitting on my hands since last November, begging to be allowed to blog about That Cat Can’t Stay. As anyone who’s known me for more than five seconds knows, I’m a cat-lover. Actually, that’s putting it mildly. Try head over heels. Gaga. I often joke that my computer contains so many pictures of cats that the next time it needs to be serviced, I’ll have to take it to a veterinarian.

When I found out last November that Flashlight Press was going to publish a book about cats, I think I reacted like a kid who had just been handed a lollipop, or perhaps a giant-size chocolate bar. A picture book about cats—just for me! “Please, can I blog about it?” I begged the publishers, whom I know personally. “Not until it’s out,” they said. Well, it’s out! Finally! Now I can blog about it.

Mom found a little calico.
Dad said, “That thing has got to go.
There’s no use begging. Don’t say please.
I don't like cats. They scratch my knees.
They carry fleas. They make me sneeze.
They’re always getting stuck in trees.
I want it gone. Send it away.
I'm telling you, that cat can't stay.”

But Dad is a pussycat at heart, and after saying no at first, he changes his mind and says yes. To the delight of his wife and children, his family grows by cat after cat after cat after cat—all of them rescues—until the surprising ending.

Full disclosure: The people at Flashlight Press are friends of mine. (Yes, they still are, even after I pestered them about this book for months.) As readers of this blog know, I don’t advertise in my posts. True, this blog contains one advertising link to Jewish- and Israel-related topics, but I don’t use it for sales, and that’s not my intent now, either. I simply want to let cat-lovers know about That Cat Can’t Stay, a book that I watched come into being as I tried, with little success, to suppress my squeals over each illustration and rhyme. To be honest, I would blog about it even if I didn’t know the publishers at all.

I like to make connections... and I hope that my readers won’t mind if I make a connection between cat-lovers of the blogosphere and this book. The only benefit I’ll be getting from this post is—I hope—some happy readers enjoying That Cat Can’t Stay as much as I did, and do...

... and after all, sometimes cats enjoy being read to as well.