The Dogma of Cats for Kids by Deb Snyder, PhD - Net Galley Review

The youngest and I have a couple (ahem) of Net Galley's to catch up on this week, so we figured we'd better get a move on!! 

Today's book, The Dogma of Cats for Kids, is by Deb Snyder, PhD

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 15, 2013)

32 pgs. 

DogmaofCats.com

Amazon

According to Net Galley,  

"Deb Snyder, PhD is an inspirational speaker, spiritual teacher and the award-winning author of Intuitive Parenting: Listening to the Wisdom of Your Heart. She holds both Doctoral and Master’s degrees in Metaphysical Philosophy from the American Institute of Holistic Theology and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Southern Maine. She teaches heart-centered living workshops worldwide. Her work inspires others to be authentic, live fully and shine bright!

Dr. Snyder is also the founder and executive director of the HeartGlow Center, a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to honoring the sacred devotion of family caregivers. She lives in Maine with her husband, daughter, and their four cats."

WHY?  We are cat lovers...particularly black cat lovers and are always on the lookout for more ways to encourage positive thinking and peaceful living.

Cover? Love it! :)

Title? If the word "cats" didn't real me in, the inclusion of the word "dogma" would have.

NetGalley Description - "Join an adorable collection of cuddly cats for their warm wisdom on how we  can live a happy, heart-centered life. With colorful illustrations,  mindful lessons and sweet, rhyming text, award winning author Deb Snyder  delivers a book that will have cat lovers of all ages purring for  more!" 

What I Liked - the premise of the book...the idea of pairing animal behavior with living a happy life...animals don't worry...why should we?

What the youngest liked - "learning about cats, and it rhymes"

What I didn't like -  the illustrations - I disliked them so much that they distracted me from the whole idea behind the book...as a matter of fact, after I finished reading, I wasn't sure that the book actually accomplished what it set out to do...show how cats live their lives to the fullest in a way that speaks to us about how to live our lives.  After a quick discussion with the youngest, and finding her favorite/least favorite illustrations, I realized that the book, or the words at least, do indeed make that connection.  I just missed it.

For example:
This particular illustration matches the cover illustration perfectly...

but it's followed by this illustration:

Which is cartoonish and looks like clip art...

This illustration: 

is followed by this one:

While this inconsistency may not bother some, it bothered me a lot...it just affected my entire mood.

What the youngest didn't like

Even though the author told us ahead of time that her cat Cagney would be on every page, the youngest thought that was overkill.  She didn't use that word, of course, but she said it was too much.

Overall Recommendation

The youngest didn't have the problem with the illustrations that I did, and she said if we were in a bookstore, she would want to buy this book.  I, however, would not.  With children's books, I think the illustrations are incredibly important, and this one just doesn't do it for  me.  Of course, it's not written for adults, so I'm not sure how my opinion weighs into that conversation.  The youngest did not, however, see the connection between the cats' behavior and how people can look at those behaviors in their own lives.
I think this is a great idea, just with more consistency in the illustrations.