fat cat sat rat bat hat mat

My J loves books. Even as a baby, we surrounded her with them. We read to her, looked at pictures, she played with them, she even chewed on them! We still read every day and she has become a good reader herself. She even has a library card and goes every week to pick out new books. I am so thrilled about that. One of my fondest childhood memories is going to the library with my mother. It was like a second home to me, we spent so much time there.

Last summer, I was browsing the children's section of our local mega-bookstore and decided to check out the early readers - hoping to find something that would be fun for me to read, fun for J to look at, and fairly easy for J to learn. J has such an incredible memory, we actually have a difficult time measuring her reading ability. She hears a story once or twice and she can read it back to you verbatim. So, many times, we don't know if she's reading or reciting! Neither here nor there...

At the bookstore, I spotted a cat book (surprise!). It is such a wonderful book. I love it more than J does. In fact, she "lets" me read it because she knows if it were up to me I would read it every night! She chose it tonight - and she read it to me! I love being J's mother. And, I love this book.

available here

Wilma the witch has a broom, a fat cat, a pet rat named Brat, and a magical mat - among other magical things. The rat hates the cat. The cat does not care. The story is about what happens while Wilma was gone and the cat sat on the rat's mat. Craziness ensues and lots of rhyming -at words.

It is soooooo fun to read out loud.

My favorite part:

The broom flew into the room. It zoomed over the mat, over the cat, over the hat and the bat and Wilma's pet rat. The fish flew off the dish. It landed on the hat, which landed on the bat, who landed on the rat, who landed on the cat, lying flat on the mat.

"Get off!" said the cat.

"No, we won't!" said the hat and the bat and the rat.

The fish said nothing.

J's favorite part is the last page:

"Thank goodness!" said the mat.

You'll have to read the book to find out what that means!!!