This book turned out to be not what I was expecting at all. I thought the book was going to be about the exploits of cats belonging to certain ships. It is more about cats in general and their uses aboard a ship. This is not to say that the book was not interesting. You do learn a bit about the reasons cats were brought aboard ships, you learn about the Captains of some ships, and you get a history lesson as well.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com and chose to leave this review.

I loved reading this book. The author has provided a maritime history of Cats not just a cute cat book. The author has researched the cats who served on ships using journals, newspaper clippings and photographs. I was surprised at some of the information I learned. The book is divided into chapters that are loosely arranged chronologically but also has snippets of trivia and other information. The text is accompanied by cute illustrations and historical photographs. The book is a biography of particular cats but more of an overview of the role cats have played in Maritime history. These cats were members of the crew who did have jobs to do while aboard ship. Anyone with an interest in maritime history and cats will enjoy this book.

I was hoping this book focused more on the cats, but I was riveted by both cats and the bipeds they sailed with.

Seafurrers: The Ships' Cats Who Lapped and Mapped the World, written by Philipa Sandall and illustrated by Ad Long, explores the history of the cats that explored the world alongside seafarring souls over the years. People remember the bold seafarers of yore, from Magellan to Shackleton, for their extraordinary exploits: new lands discovered, storms weathered, and battles won. But somehow history has neglected the stalwart, hardworking species who made it all possible, the noble cat! Here readers can learn the stories of sea cats such as Trim (who circumnavigated Australia), Tom (the sole feline survivor of the sinking of the USS Maine), celebrity cat Simon (a veteran of the Yangtze Incident), and other furry heroes. There are thirty eight stories of cats that proved to indispensable at sea—both as pest controllers and as beloved mascots, all told from the voice of Bart- a cat eager to explain the missing histories of seafaring felines. The book is filled with nautical trivia, rare photographs, and whimsical illustrations, this deft genealogy of human–feline friendship will stir your regard for the incomparable cat.

Seafurrers: The Ships' Cats Who Lapped and Mapped the World is less about the individual cats and the sailors that befriended and made use of them, it is more about the benefits and uses of cats on ships and in the world in general. The information about the benefits of cats for pest control and the calculations of just how useful they were. I think I was expecting more stories than science and math, but that is on me rather than the author. The information given is well presented and the illustrations and photographs added to the narrative. I will admit to being bored with some of the facts, and doing a little skimming. My biggest issue was the fact that the author cited Wikipedia. I am trying to teach research to school children, and how to verify sources. Wikipedia does not count, but can be a good starting point as long as you follow it to reputable primary sources. It is not in itself such a source, and that an author would use it as one made me less than happy.

As a person who loves both cats and maritime history, this little book was right up my alley. I was expecting more content about the cats than I got, but luckily I enjoyed learning about the seaFARERS almost as much as the seaFURRERS. I would be sure to let cat lovers know before recommending the book to them, however.

This wasn't at all what I expected this book to be. I thought it would just be a cute little book about cats and being on the ocean and lots of pictures. But it was way more informational than I thought it would be. While interesting, the writing itself was kind of all over the place and I had a hard time following what was going on.

I skipped around a bit in this book, since the format allows you to do so. It has a lot of stories about cats onboard ships and a reasonable amount of maritime history to explain where the cat's ship was going and why. I think that cat-lovers will enjoy learning more about cats' adventures and learn a bit of maritime history in the process. Lovers of maritime history probably won't learn any new history, but will round out their knowledge by learning about shipboard cats, which I think are usually left out of most serious history books. My favorite photo is the one of Winston Churchill petting a ship's cat in WWII.

This is a fun little book, a good gift for maritime loving cat people.

Split into four section, each “incident” (chapter) usually begins with an excerpt from a journal, news article, or picture that mentions the ship’s cat(s) doing something, followed by a brief history and/or facts. Some facts pertain directly to the history of the ship the cat was on, others are more cat trivia, while others are completely random, a tangent from something mentioned in the excerpt. These are not biographies of each cat in question, as the synopsis sort of makes it out to be, but rather segues into segues. It was confusing at first, but I gradually warmed up to the topics being covered.

There were some fun excerpts in here that made me want to read more about the person and/or exploration or mission in general, but the commentary about the story didn’t stick with me, even if it covered something interesting. I also read multiple incidents at a time, so that may have led me to feeling a bit bored with the style. Reading just one or two entries at time is the better course of action than binge-reading.

I’d recommend this for cat lovers who also are interested in seafaring in general, but people who might have extensive maritime knowledge might be unimpressed with the information given.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!

Fun idea but it felt scattered. Part history, part story telling, and part photoshopped images? It felt like there was little direction and clarity in the writing.

An entertaining book for cat lovers or older children. I was most interested in the stories of the cats themselves rather than the diversions about general maritime history or natural facts. I can't take a book that openly cites Wikipedia (!) too seriously, but as a light read it was pleasant enough. My review copy omitted photos and artwork, but judging by the captions I'm sure there will be some cute illustrations in the published edition.