So many of the world's problems arise because we think everyone thinks and sees things the way we do. We dare to think that they if they don't see things our way, then they are in the wrong. We forget that who we are - our life experiences and our background - hugely affect our perceptions.
This amazing picture book shows us how different characters all see the same thing in very different ways. Their viewpoints are startling, visually, and give us cause to pause. As we look at the artwork we are gently reminded to think about how we perceive our world.
They all saw a cat
This amazing picture book shows us how different characters all see the same thing in very different ways. Their viewpoints are startling, visually, and give us cause to pause. As we look at the artwork we are gently reminded to think about how we perceive our world.
They all saw a cat
Brendan Wenzel
Picture Book
For ages 5 and up
Chronicle Books, 2016, 978-1-4521-5013-0
A cat, wearing a red collar that has a little yellow bell
attached to it, goes out into the world with its whiskers ready and its tail in
the air. The cat is seen by a child, a dog, a fox, a goldfish, a mouse, a bee,
a bird, a flea, a snake, a skunk, a worm, and bat. One would think that they
would all see the cat in the same way, but this is not the case.
To the child the
cat is a smiling, benign animal that is there to be patted. The dog sees the
cat as a lean, mean looking creature. The goldfish, from its watery home in a
fish bowl, sees a blurry shape with enormous yellow eyes. For the poor mouse
the cat is a monstrous beast with yellow, slit eyes, huge claws, and sharp
fangs. The bee, with its compound eyes, sees a pointillist cat, a vague figure
made up of lots of colors. The bat, flying in the night sky, also sees a shape
made up of dots, but the dots it sees are white in color.
Every animal
sees the cat differently depending on its perspective and its place in the food
chain. The kinds of eyes and senses they have also determine what the cat looks
like to them. How does that cat see itself?
This wonderful
picture book takes children on a journey into the imagination. It also presents
them with the idea that different characters will see the same thing in widely
different ways. We all view the world through eyes that are touched by our
biases, interests, and backgrounds, and therefore we have to be sensitive to
the fact that other people’s perceptions are not like our own.
