What do you think?
Rate this book
Cat's Colors
What better thing to do on a grey day than collect some colours? Cat decides to do just that, but where will she find them? A charming, deceptively simple story about making the most of the world around us, and giving something back in return.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2016
1 person is currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Airlie Anderson
36 books15 followersAirlie Anderson is the author and illustrator of Neither, Cat’s Colors, and Momo and Snap Are Not Friends. She grew up in California and spent a lot of time reading and drawing, as well as swimming and pretending to ride a horse. Her early influences were animation art, pop art, and comics.
Airlie attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where she majored in illustration and focused on children’s books, a natural choice given her love for saturated color and expressive characters.
She now lives in beautiful, underrated New Jersey with her family, and enjoys the close proximity to New York City (book country)! She is the recipient of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, the Independent Publisher Book Award, and the Practical Preschool award.
Airlie attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where she majored in illustration and focused on children’s books, a natural choice given her love for saturated color and expressive characters.
She now lives in beautiful, underrated New Jersey with her family, and enjoys the close proximity to New York City (book country)! She is the recipient of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, the Independent Publisher Book Award, and the Practical Preschool award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
February 5, 2017
Cat sees, smells, and experiences the colorful world all around her and then something amazing happens!
April 12, 2019
Very nice book on colors.
January 25, 2019
Bored one cloudy gray day, a white cat wanders about finding colorful experiences, and incorporating them into her being. From the green of the trees to the red of the roses, the blue of water to the purple of a butterfly, the cat takes everything in, developing a colorful spot for each new experience. Eventually, retreating to a safe place, the cat produces a VERY colorful litter of kittens...
A sweet exploration of colors for younger children, Cat's Colors is a lovely book, and won author/illustrator Airlie Anderson a 2016 Moonbeam Children's Book Award (established to open up children's books awards to titles from smaller, independent publishers, in a variety of genres), in the Picture-Book Preschool category. The text is quite simple, but the concept is engaging, and the artwork adorable! Recommended to all young cat lovers, and to anyone looking for an appealing introduction to colors for the picture-book set.
A sweet exploration of colors for younger children, Cat's Colors is a lovely book, and won author/illustrator Airlie Anderson a 2016 Moonbeam Children's Book Award (established to open up children's books awards to titles from smaller, independent publishers, in a variety of genres), in the Picture-Book Preschool category. The text is quite simple, but the concept is engaging, and the artwork adorable! Recommended to all young cat lovers, and to anyone looking for an appealing introduction to colors for the picture-book set.
May 5, 2018
On a cloudy grey day cat begins collecting colors one at a time -- green from a tree, red from a flower, blue from a pond, purple from a butterfly, orange from a sunset, black from the night sky, and yellow from the moon. Cat keeps these colors as spots on her fur, jumps into a bushy nest to sleep, and wakes up surrounded by seven kittens, one of each color.
The muted landscape pops the colors. The text, though spare, introduces vocabulary such as "gray-day", "idea", "collect", "ceiling", "breathed", "reflected", "pond", "notices", "flutter", "gazed", "sparkling", "cosmos", and "cozy". The illustrations are reminiscent of Van Gogh's post-impressionist work -- making them vibrant with many strokes, swirls, and dashes. Shadows create depth and the simple shapes create focus.
My little ones LOVE this book and so do I!
The muted landscape pops the colors. The text, though spare, introduces vocabulary such as "gray-day", "idea", "collect", "ceiling", "breathed", "reflected", "pond", "notices", "flutter", "gazed", "sparkling", "cosmos", and "cozy". The illustrations are reminiscent of Van Gogh's post-impressionist work -- making them vibrant with many strokes, swirls, and dashes. Shadows create depth and the simple shapes create focus.
My little ones LOVE this book and so do I!
July 24, 2019
A beautifully illustrated book about a cat welcoming colors into her world.
May 9, 2017
Whoa, I didn't expect that ending. Cute book though! Great story for learning colors.
July 7, 2016
Great Britain can feel like a grey country sometimes, especially on a cold winter’s day when the fog is thick in the air. You can barely see your own hand in front of you, never mind the fertile landscape. Bringing a little colour into a grey world is like bring a little joy in, so perhaps you can find a little happiness following Cat as she looks for some colour? You may even discover a wonderful surprise at the end of the adventure.
Cat is searching for some colour in a grey world that she can add to her white coat. As she walks along she spots, amongst other things, the blue pond and the green grass. Soon she has started to add colours, but for what reason?
‘‘Cat's Colours’’ by Airlie Anderson is a thoroughly charming and simple book that introduces the very young to the concept of colours. Many colour books aimed at the newborns to 16 months market are extremely simple affairs that just show a picture of an item and state the colour – Red Apple, Blue Kite etc. These are effective learning tools, but the lack of narrative means that they have little charm. You cannot imagine an older child or adult going back to one of these books to reminisce as they grow older, but you can with ‘‘Cat’s Colours’’
Anderson has interspersed the learning about colours with a simple story that gently moves along. Cat comes across a piece of the landscape which has colour and she adds that to her coat. We find out at the end of the book why she is doing this and it is a wonderful and sweet surprise. This one element elevates the book as it makes the entire adventure a charming one that you will love to share with your child.
The illustration and pace of the book should also be applauded. You feel like the story is almost dreamlike as Cat wanders a grey planet. Anderson is not afraid to use space and quiet as a tool. The writing is simple and easy to follow, but some of the double spreads have no words at all as you just observe Cat’s journey. For this reason the book is best suited for a younger audience as they can play spot the colour and see what is going on, but an older child would have little to read along with.
Simplicity is often overlooked in children’s books in favour of filling the pages with colours and wacky imagery to draw the eye. ‘‘Cat’s Colours’’ has none of this and is just a simple story well told. Its mild manner is charming, but you may find that older children will start to drift as it lacks advanced engagement. Original review on bookbag.co.uk
Cat is searching for some colour in a grey world that she can add to her white coat. As she walks along she spots, amongst other things, the blue pond and the green grass. Soon she has started to add colours, but for what reason?
‘‘Cat's Colours’’ by Airlie Anderson is a thoroughly charming and simple book that introduces the very young to the concept of colours. Many colour books aimed at the newborns to 16 months market are extremely simple affairs that just show a picture of an item and state the colour – Red Apple, Blue Kite etc. These are effective learning tools, but the lack of narrative means that they have little charm. You cannot imagine an older child or adult going back to one of these books to reminisce as they grow older, but you can with ‘‘Cat’s Colours’’
Anderson has interspersed the learning about colours with a simple story that gently moves along. Cat comes across a piece of the landscape which has colour and she adds that to her coat. We find out at the end of the book why she is doing this and it is a wonderful and sweet surprise. This one element elevates the book as it makes the entire adventure a charming one that you will love to share with your child.
The illustration and pace of the book should also be applauded. You feel like the story is almost dreamlike as Cat wanders a grey planet. Anderson is not afraid to use space and quiet as a tool. The writing is simple and easy to follow, but some of the double spreads have no words at all as you just observe Cat’s journey. For this reason the book is best suited for a younger audience as they can play spot the colour and see what is going on, but an older child would have little to read along with.
Simplicity is often overlooked in children’s books in favour of filling the pages with colours and wacky imagery to draw the eye. ‘‘Cat’s Colours’’ has none of this and is just a simple story well told. Its mild manner is charming, but you may find that older children will start to drift as it lacks advanced engagement. Original review on bookbag.co.uk
October 5, 2016
Tried this book out at storytime and it was a big hit. At first it feels very derivative of Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting, and it does owe a debt there. I do think this one works better for 2 and 3 year olds as the text is simple and there are even some wordless spreads.
The parents and caregivers at my storytime actually had a collective "awwwww" at the (surprise?) ending, so that was nice to see. Will definitely read this one again in future storytimes.
The parents and caregivers at my storytime actually had a collective "awwwww" at the (surprise?) ending, so that was nice to see. Will definitely read this one again in future storytimes.
December 14, 2016
We meet Cat on a cloudy gray day. She decides to set out to find some color in her world. As she sees the green of the trees and the blue of a lake, little color dots appear on her white fur and at the end of the day she has accumulated a little patch of rainbow colors herself. When we last see cat she is nesting inside a clump of grass to enjoy a good nights sleep. When we find her in the morning she has got a wonderful surprise for us. This book is simple, a good review of colors for a toddler but it has a special feel to it that makes it one of those books you want to share with your little one over and over.
October 16, 2016
A beautiful celebration of colors through the view of a (surprise!) Mama cat who appreciates the colors highlighting lovely aspects of nature, speckled as dots upon her fur, and coloring her kitten's fur. My (cat loving) toddler loves the pictures and the story. It doesn't tie nature and new babies as well as other picture books (_Maple_, for instance), but as this does not seem to be the book's main purpose, it works.
June 7, 2017
This storybook offers easy-to-read text, but the illustrations tell the story. This is simply a delightful story with a surprise ending. Great for one-on-one reading, beginning readers, or a group setting.
November 30, 2017
Cat travels around seeking colors to brighten her day during a cloudy and grey morning. Cute book with simple/large pictures and small sentences would make this great for toddler storytime, possibly even baby storytime.
December 17, 2016
Fun, simple concept book with a surprising (perhaps perplexing for some) ending.
March 25, 2017
Simple illustrations and a fun little story with a surprise at the end.
May 11, 2017
Simple, cute. Great book to read before bed. Especially for a kid who loves cats.
August 26, 2017
Cute book for teaching colors
October 26, 2017
I LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved it so much I'm going to buy it
November 15, 2017
A short read with limited words and lots of pictures. A great way for kids to learn their colors.
January 21, 2018
Very cute, likely to be this weeks frog olympics
March 28, 2018
It's a grey day and cat goes around gathering colors. Then she hides in the bushes and the next day, kittens of each color.
April 4, 2018
This book made me gasp in delight, and I am as cynical and jaded as they come.
July 6, 2018
These illustrations are to die for.
August 10, 2018
its a cute cat, of course i liked it lol
March 12, 2025
Fun illustrations to talk about colors in the world around us. The cat picks up colored spots with each item. Then the cat has colored kittens! So fun to count and name the colors.
January 9, 2018
Majestic.
September 13, 2019
Great way to find and match colors
March 13, 2021
This book was so cute! I read it to my three year old niece and she got obsessed with it. Every night she asked to read the "kitty book". This is such a cute and clever way to teach kids their colors. The illustrations are adorable, and the ending was great. I'm gonna have to buy this book in the future!
July 5, 2017
Ah, a white cat exploring colors and obtaining a color spot on her journey. After hiding in a bush out comes spotted cat with a litter of color kittens. The imagination here was a little much for me. Glad that someone bought this for the library as I would not have.
March 18, 2024
Anderson Adventure #2
Cat collects some colours and the book is slowly transformed from grey to colourful and then we have a surprise ending.
A book about accepting all, which I am sure will once again infuriate some people!
Cat collects some colours and the book is slowly transformed from grey to colourful and then we have a surprise ending.
A book about accepting all, which I am sure will once again infuriate some people!
August 8, 2017
A simple and clear book about a cat's journey to find a safe place for the night she journey's past many colors and adds them to her white coat. very basic. any age group.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews