A loveable cat goes from home to home on an urban street, breaking down walls of isolation and forming a community from a diverse group of neighbors.

I absolutely adore this book. I would recommend this story to anyone. This story has jokes in it which I love, and this book had several. One joke that was told in the beginning of the story was, "he wandered off to 'check out' my house. That's librarian humor". Another joke in this story was when the older man was with the cat and when he was making dinner he said, "Last night's supper...it's catfish". The jokes make the book have a lightness to it. The plot of this story is just wonderful because the cat brings all of these people together and he was there for all of these people who needed a friend. Not only did he help them but the characters in the book were all so different from one another and they all still needed this cat to make them smile and lighten their day. What makes this book even more special to me is that even though the main character couldn't even talk in this book, the author was still able to get their point across effectively. The main message of this book is that even if you're small you can still make a big difference in someone's life. ( )

This was a very cute story about a cat who visits various people around the neighborhood, brightening each of their lives, and getting snacks and pets. I really liked it because it showed a variety of people in very humanizing ways; an elderly woman, a hispanic widower, a homeless veteran, etc, and in the end they are all united by the cat.
The theme is friendship and to be accepting and not judge others by outward appearances.
I think this would be a great story for classrooms to teach about diversity and acceptance.

Charming story about a portly feline who brings a little joy to six lonely people and unwittingly brings them all together. ( )

(My review of The Cat with Seven Names, as it appeared in the April, 2014, edition of School Library Journal.)

PreS-Gr 2— A plump, seemingly stray cat wanders occasionally into the home of an older librarian. She names her visitor Stuart Little. At an elderly neighbor's home, he receives the moniker Kitty-boy, while a lonely Mexican man names him Placido for his "singing" voice. A homeless vet calls him Dove, for the peace he brings. Only the cat is lacking his own voice in this heartwarming story of a busy neighborhood, full of unconnected adults. Each character has his or her own first-person narrator, each distinctly different. The Hispanic man peppers his speech with Spanish words, as he first meets "Placido" on a day when it rains gatos y perros. Humorous wordplay abounds throughout, in which the cat is the common fixture in the lives of seven adults and a young girl. When the cat has a near accident, the full cast calls out seven different names, as each rushes to save the feline that has befriended them all; and through the cat, they befriend each other. The Cat with Seven Names will be sold with and without its corresponding picture book. Consider purchasing the set. Absent illustrations, the steady stream of elderly and adult voices may not be enough to hold a child's attention.

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