Watch out! Here comes Bad Kitty

One of my students came bounding into the classroom the other day BEGGING me to read his new book.  I took one look and thought, “Oh no, it’s one of those goofy, over-commercialized books, with nothing substantial.”

It was probably the big bites in the book that made me think that. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I said, “Sure, it looks fun!”

Turns out this book is GREAT fun.

Introducing ………


Title: Bad Kitty: The Cat-Nipped Edition
Written and Illustrated by Nick Bruel
Publishing: Roaring Brook Press, 2005
Ages:  3 to 8
Themes: Alphabet, Cats, Food, Behaviour
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 4/5 stars

Opening:

She used to be a good kitty, until one day … Oh Dear! We’re all out of food for the Kitty!

Synopsis:

Good Kitty turns into a very Bad Kitty when her owners run out of cat food. Her naughty behaviour is SO outrageous you can’t help but laugh. Especially when Bad Kitty realizes her mistake. Now she must make amends, but can she turn her behaviour around? And will it work?

Why I Like This Book — A Lot!

It’s silly, funny, and original. And I have to admit it’s the best alphabet book I’ve seen in a long while. It reviews the alphabet not once, not twice, but FOUR times.

A lot of alphabet books can be a bit slow and drawn out. Not this book! The pace moves quickly, as it bounces through unlikely food choices and crazy kitty behaviour which makes it both a fun read-aloud and a great pick for young independent readers.

Classroom Connections:

1.  The official Bad Kitty page has LOTS of fun activities, videos, drawing lessons and games to try out! You need to visit this page.

2. You could easily use this book as a springboard and write your own book about “Bad Puppy”, “Bad Froggy”, etc.  You might even get your reluctant readers excited about this.

3. It would be fun and easy to make a class alphabet book, following the same format used by the author. Class books are great for modelling writing and then repeated readings afterwards.

4. Your class could do a cat art project and then write a short paragraph describing their favourite part of the book. Some good cat art lessons are this one from Mrs. T’s First Grade Class and this one, which emphasizes tints and shades, from Deep Space Sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by!

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28 thoughts on “Watch out! Here comes Bad Kitty”

  1. My son absolutely LOVES Bad Kitty Books…I believe he has all but one. I thought the same thing at first, but I laughed hysterically when listening to him read it…these are too cute!I posted a gift for my followers…even though I still have 2 more to reach 100…I just couldn't wait and decided to count some of you as two..hahaha MichelleThe 3AM Teacher

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  2. My kids LOVE Bad Kitty. I used it in the beginning of the year. There is one thing I don't like. I think it says shut up or something and some of my kids hyper-focused on it. Thanks for the resources!First in Maine

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  3. Thanks, everyone:). I wonder why naughty animal stories are so much fun? Ha ha.You're right about the \”shut-up\”, Kimberly. Luckily no one in my class blinked an eye. Hmmmm.Have a great weekend!

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  4. I LOVE Bad Kitty! Such fun! And as always I love all your suggested activities. I think in the future when I love a book but can't think what to do with it, I'll ask you 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this delightful book!

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  5. I absolutely LOVE Bad Kitty — and I'm delighted that the edition you saw was the cat-nipped edition with the chomp taken out of it. That immediately drew me to it in the bookstore, and I fell in love.

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  6. I've had this one on my Amazon list for eons, but had the same feeling as you about being commercial. Glad to know it's not and that there's a version with a bite missing! And how great that it goes through the alphabet so many times. 🙂

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