This is a cute picture book tackling an issue especially relevant for this time of the year: the first day of school. Splat is very clever and tries to make up excuse after excuse as to why he can't go to school. His mother doesn't believe him and assures him that he will love cat school. To help feel more confident, Splat takes his pet mouse along with him in his lunchbox (you can see where this might be leading...). Splat meets his teacher, Mrs. Wimpydimple and goes inside. One of their first lessons makes Splat feel very uncomfortable. They talk about the things cats do and one of them is that "Cats chase mice." When Splat asks why, Mrs. Wimpydimple uses the age old answer, "Because" and moves on. The other students don't see anything wrong with chasing mice. Lunch time arrives and when the other students see Seymour, they chase him all over the place! Splat is frantic and saves his friend.
The other cats see no good use for mice (besides for chasing) until the milk cabinet is jammed. Being small and cunning, Seymour is able to slide into a crack and unhinge the latch. After such a feat, the cats decide they should ammend the previous lesson to "Cats don't chase mice." Now that Splat has found friends, he is no longer anxious about attending school. Instead, he is excited and ready to learn!
The illustrations are very sweet and transport the reader to a believable place where cats do wear clothes and go to school. I loved these pictures--the cats are fluffy and the colors are bright. I thought it was funny how the students seemed to have very short attention spans (much like us) and just wanted something to focus on. I liked this story and think it would be a fun way to start out the year with fun read alouds. Elementary kids are all nervous about the first day of school to some extent, so an amusing book about it could help calm fears.
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