How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps - a review

How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps

by Nicola Winstanley
Illustrations by John Martz
Tundra, 2019

The “five easy steps” in the book’s title are more difficult than they sound when the cat refuses to cooperate! The title page shows a dark-skinned girl with pink hair striding purposefully with a limp white cat under her arm. All signs point to a successful bath experience until,

STEP ONE
Fill the tub with warm water. 

The girl fills the tub with too much warm water, prompting a new step one,

STEP ONE
Put a little warm water in the bath. 

As “step one,” changes with the circumstances, Mr. Flea, escapes. After a lengthy (and messy) search throughout the house, step one becomes,

STEP ONE
Have some milk and cookies. 

The steps change amusingly as the cat wreaks havoc in the house, the water cools to an unacceptable temperature, and the process continues through a multitude of steps before resolving in a way that pleases as least one of the two! Simple ink drawings are digitally colored with a limited palette. The cat’s only coloring is a round pink nose that perfectly matches the girl’s hair buns. The same pink boldly lists the ever-increasing steps required to “give your cat a bath.” Pages are a soft beige with white comic book style margins. The text is witty and droll instruction,

STEP FIVE
Chase your cat down the stairs! 

The girl’s comments appear in white word bubbles above her head,

 “I thought you said there were only five steps!” 

The girl and Mr. Flea burst with action and expression. The result is a hilarious confirmation of the well-known fact that cats do whatever they please. How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps is sure to be a favorite for small group sharing, cat families, and children who appreciate nuanced hilarity.

Peek inside How to Give Your Cat a Bath.

My copy of How to Give Your Cat a Bath was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers.