Books for Preschoolers - Cats, Cats, Cats
🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop
- 😊 Love of Reading — Every positive reading experience — a funny book, an exciting story, a perfectly timed cuddle — builds the reading identity and intrinsic motivation that sustains literacy development through the independent reading years.
- 🖼️ Visual Literacy — Reading pictures — interpreting what they show, what details they add, how they relate to the words — develops visual literacy: the ability to extract meaning from images that underlies comprehension of graphs, diagrams, and media.
- 🗣️ Language Fluency — Exposure to the complex sentence structures, rich vocabulary, and varied grammatical patterns of written language — more complex than everyday speech — builds linguistic fluency that distinguishes strong readers and communicators.
- 💬 Vocabulary Expansion — Books deliver vocabulary 3–4x more efficiently than conversation — introducing words children would rarely encounter in everyday speech and building the word knowledge that is the single strongest predictor of reading comprehension.
Cats, Cats, Cats Written by Leslea Newman
Illustrated by Erika Oller
From the Book
"In a great big house on the edge of town lived a tiny old woman named Mrs. Brown. She had no children, she had no mother, she had no sister, she had no brother. She had no chickens, she had no rats. What Mrs. Brown had were...cats, cats, cats."
About the Book
Cats, Cats, Cats is the unusual story about a crazy old woman, named Mrs. Brown, who's crazy about cats - lots of them! She has so many cats, that they are everywhere, doing everything imaginable - and even things you couldn't imagine, like eating spaghetti! Mrs. Brown takes great care of her cats, cats, cats. But unbeknownst to her, all her cats, cats, cats are up partying all night while she's sleeping - that would explain their sleeping all day! Even if Mrs. Brown knew of their antics, it's just the same - she loves her cats and they love her.
From the Correspondent - Stacey Lloyd
Cats, Cats, Cats is a cute story any preschooler would enjoy. The colorful illustrations of all the cats leaves you wondering "Just how many types of cats are there!?" My son liked following the story to see what the cats would be doing next. We enjoyed trying to count the many cats that Mrs. Brown has, but there's so many, who's to know?
Cats, Cats, Cats reminds me of a woman I once knew who had a houseful of cats. She was quite weird, too. But, you have to appreciate the love she had for her cats. This is a fun read since the story incorporates rhyming and interesting illustrations. Add it to your preschooler's collection of good books to read before bedtime.
Book Details
Title:
Cats, Cats, CatsReading level: Ages 4 - 8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Aladdin; Reprint edition (February 24, )
Language: English
ISBN: 0689866976
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Helpful Tips for Parents
- Children's picture books are not dumbed-down literature — the best ones (Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web, Goodnight Moon) reward re-reading across decades.
- Surround children with books — in the bedroom, living room, car, waiting bags. Accessible books get read; books in storage don't.
- Don't stop picture books when children start reading independently. Picture books remain intellectually appropriate through age 10+ — the illustrations carry information words cannot.
- Poetry is the highest-density language exposure available in children's literature. A poem that takes 60 seconds to read delivers the vocabulary, rhythm, and craft of far longer prose.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books should I read to my preschooler per day?
The volume is less important than the consistency. Even one book per day, read with engagement and followed by brief conversation, delivers significant developmental benefit. Many families read 3–5 books at bedtime plus additional books throughout the day — this is excellent and associated with the strongest reading outcomes. If you can only manage one daily reading session, make it consistent, engaged, and joyful rather than perfunctory.
When should I switch from picture books to chapter books?
Chapter books don't replace picture books — they extend the reading menu. Most children enjoy having a chapter book read aloud starting around age 4–5, even before they can read independently. Picture books remain appropriate through childhood (and adulthood — they're literature, not a developmental stage to be exited). When introducing chapter books: choose ones with short chapters, interesting characters, and immediate plot engagement. The Magic Tree House, Frog and Toad, and Flat Stanley series are reliable first chapter book series.
Related reading: See also our nursery rhymes and literacy guide and our read-aloud techniques guide for more ideas on this topic.
