Book Review: Poems About Cats (Cat Vs Human)

Cats have long been an inspiration to artists and poets. In this heartwarming collection, artist Yasmine Surovec of catversushuman.com presents an illustrated anthology of literary adulation and poetic tributes to the always-alluring, ever-beloved cat.

From Shakespeare to Blake to Rosetti to Wordsworth to classic nursery rhymes, cats have been celebrated in poetry for as long as they have been warming laps. Cats are mysterious, adorable, finicky, and cherished; and they have been beloved muses for some of our most renowned poets, writers, and artists. This inspired collection presents treasured poems and nursery rhymes illustrated with the whimsical, irresistible art of Yasmine Surovec.

Review: Poems About Cats

I like cats (no surprise there) and I like poetry, so it wasn't a huge gamble to take a chance on Poems About Cats, a Cat vs Human book from Yasmine Surovec.

This is a great volume with a range of well chosen verses accompanied by lovely illustrations. The poems as a whole cover the many facets of cat behaviour and their personalities: from the loving cat we cherish right down to the naughty and mischievous cat who'll steal your dinner and let the dog take the blame.

Here's a particular favourite:

But cats consider theft a game
And, howsoever you may blame,
Refuse the slightest sign of shame.

(From A Cat's Conscience)

I found some old favourites in here (such as Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat and William Blake's The Tyger) but I also discovered some new (to me) verses that touched me, made me laugh or made me well up. The Seventy-Five Praises of Ra aptly opens the book and therefore I was smiling the second my eyes found "thou art the Great Cat".

This is a really nice volume and one that would be a treasured gift for any cat lover I'm sure. I read it as an ebook and still loved the poems and the illustrations but as a physical volume this must be a real treat.

The closing lines to Three Little Kittens will serve as a more than fitting summary of my thoughts:

Purr, purr, purr, purr,
Purr, purr, purr.

Verdict: 4/5 Source: Netgalley