Tatty Catty is a delightful rhyming picture book for young children that follows the adventures of Tatty the Cat, with her crooked tail and her tatty fur. She longs to explore the vast blue sea, but the sailors tell her she’s too tatty and she’s five sizes too small. But Tatty slips aboard the next ship that anchors and hides amongst the boxes and bags. Thankfully, when she is discovered, the Captain thinks she looks like a pirate cat, so he decides to keep her.
The pirates love Tatty; she is their queen – and she has adventures to islands with treasure, many wild animals and mermaids. But just what will happen next?
Tatty Catty clips along with lovely rhyming verse by Susannah Whaley. The rhymes are a delight to read aloud. The illustrations are colourful and engaging. Hayley Elliott-Kernot is an exceptionally talented artist, and the illustrations in Tatty Catty are exquisite, adding another element to a beautiful story and really bringing everything to life.
Susannah and Hayley are a talented duo. I can’t wait to see their next picture book and hope we get to see ragamuffin Tatty Catty again in another adventure.
Reviewer: Karen McMillan
Marigold Books, marigoldbooks.nz@gmail.com