"The Cat With No Name" is a sweet, simple story about a child finding a cat, falling in love, and then coping with the feelings that accompany loss when the cat returns to it's original home. At its surface, this book will be relatable to young readers with the story of sadness. I couldn't help but ponder extensions of this metaphor into clinical work with client's experiencing transition, loss, and season s of adjustment.

I'm grateful to both NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review in exchange for an ARC.

While the idea was good to write a story that would show it's okay to be sad and that grief passes, the story itself fell kind of flat at the end. I liked the illustrations, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book.

A simple story to remind us that kids too feel something, even though they might not be able to verbalize it. Being sad is normal, and as adults, we have to spend time with the children to detect the anomaly, then being patient to listen to them.

The author wrote a good example why kids might feel sad, and some practical tips on how to deal with it.

~ Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review ~

4.5 / 5 stars

After having just reviewed another ARC called "Together Again: A Story About Joy" by Kochka, which I liked but didn't find quite developed enough to be of much interest to children beyond the ages of 3-4, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much more involved "A Cat With No Name: A Story About Sadness" was. This book is about a girl called Olive who finds a kitten and is allowed to call it her own, as long as no one is looking for it. The narrative follows Olive and Kitty Cat as they spend just over one beautiful week together before reality comes calling.
I'm not even ashamed to admit I welled up a bit as I was reading the last page. This picture book had a great story from start to finish, the pictures were well done, and the connection between Olive and Kitty Cat was unusually strong considering the limited length of the plot. The information about sadness for parents at the back of the book was well thought out, as was the case in the other Kochka ARC I reviewed. Also, I think the fact that sadness tends to be something that becomes more complex as one gets older might extend the audience age range of "A Cat with No Name" in comparison to "Together Again."
One thing I'll give Kochka is that it is obvious that she thinks of children as people, not just kids, and believes that they are deserving of the same respect and understanding that adults are given. This is something I honestly admire and wish I saw more of when I was a child.

Summary
Recommended age range: 3-6
Pros: colourful, simple illustrations; strong bonds between the characters; well-developed story
Cons: might be a little heavy for particularly sensitive children

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really like this series of books, the art is so cute and i love the authors notes in the back

A cute story for all kids. A cat and a little girl, form a bond that is spontaneous and instantaneous. Only to realise that they cannot live together. Both of them belong to different places which they can't leave. A cute and emotional story with equally Mesmerizing artwork.

Very sweet book about a girl named Olive who finds a kitten, only to discover later she already has an owner. The bright, cheerful illustrations and the incredible cuteness of Olive and the kitten will charm readers. The underlying purpose of the story is to help children deal with sadness and loss, and the book includes helpful tips for parents at the end. Death is not involved (although the lessons gained are certainly applicable to it), so this is a great book to use to help children deal with more everyday kinds of losses.

This book was an excellent example of when one might feel sadness as a child. Finding a cat and getting your hopes up that you can keep only to find out that it has an owner is absolutely heartbreaking for a child.

This book could have two lessons on emotions - one on feeling sadness when the girl realized she couldn’t keep the cat and one on happiness when the cat was finally reunited with its owners after several days.

This series on emotions is a must have for any primary/preschool classroom. I love how there was a fact page on sadness at the end of this one as well. It’s so important to understand child psychology and how emotions work with children when helping them deal with their emotions.

I have a cat. The idea that I couldn't keep him, that he would belong somewhere else, is heartwrenching. Let's read a picture book about that!

Olive, the little girl in this book, sees a kitten outside her window, and of course it is the cutest kitten in the world, as each and every kitten on the planet is the cutest in the world (how could this be, you ask, and I say to you: something to do with quantum mechanics - we all know cats are multidimensional, see: Schrödinger's cat).

Olive's parents tell her she can maybe keep her if she keeps returning to their house over the coming week. And she does keep coming back! Until she doesn't.

So Olive sticks up "Have you seen this kitten?" notes, and even bothers local purveyors of goods and services. And so she finds out that her kitten already belongs to someone else. It is truly heartbreaking.

It's a sad but very real story, and it's told very well. The illustrations are fantastic.

My advice would be to read it while stroking your kitten or cat of choice (one that is legitimately yours, of course).

All the feels, for this sweet, hopeful, little story about coping with love, loss, and letting go. One day Olive finds a small lost kitten and happily takes care of her for days, until one day she’s gone! She searches for her everywhere, but finds, instead, that she’s been brought back to her real home. Olive is sad, but can she learn to be happy and cherish the time they got to spend together? The adorably expressive characters and hand-drawn feel of this book make it welcoming and accessible, and I love how color is used cleverly throughout to amplify the emotion.

A sweet book for both kids and parents on the importance of expressing our feelings.

We often do not discuss sadness with kids because we don't want them to feel that way, but of course they will at many points throughout their lives. This book does a great job of discussing how important it is to have these conversations with kids and teach them how to feel comfortable in expressing such feelings and not disregard them as unimportant because we do not share the same view.

Hopefully, books such as this will inspire some discussions between parents and their little ones.

This was so cute, and would be a great way to teach children about loss. The illustrations and colors were simple, but they told a profound story.

This story hurts so much - it's a story about loss and about cats! What happens when you find a cat and love it and want to keep it... but it already has a home?!

This is a great way to help introduce loss to kids. Kochka's books have been a great way to bring up the topic of emotions in a kid friendly way. I can respect that! On top of that, the illustrations are always fun to look at.

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, words&pictures and Quarto Publishing for providing me with a free copy in exchange of an honest review.

Review to come in 4 days to blog/goodreads/etc.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

After loving Together Again by this author I just wanted to also read this one. I was hoping it would just be as good as Together Again!

A little girl is having her own breakfast when a little kitty appears at her window, she takes her in and has a great time that warmed my heart! But I was also shielding my heart because I knew that this kitty would have an owner. Someone who was looking for her. I knew that this would probably end up in tears when the kitty was found. Because while the girl was told about that being a possibility she probably forgot about it or with kitty staying with her so long thought she could keep her. I was hoping that her parents would be able to cheer her up or at least be there for her when that moment would happen.

One thing I would have liked to see is that the parents and the girl went around the neighbourhood to ask about the kitty, or post found posters so that the owner would know where to look. Now it just felt like they weren't doing anything and that just didn't sit right with me. If I lost a pet I would love to know if someone has found her or him. I would love to know she/he is safe.

Since this is a children's book, I do wish that things like giving milk to a kitten (or a cat) wouldn't be done. Milk is not good for cats. It is bad for them even. You don't want to give kids the wrong impression, kids may think it is a good thing to give kitties milk.

The illustrations for this one are done by another artist than the Together Again book, but I have to say the style was just so cute and fun! I am glad that I found two more illustrators to keep an eye on to see if they make more.

All in all, I did enjoy this story and found it adorable. But the fact the parents/kid did nothing to help the owner find the cat + that in 2021 people still let people think that kitties can drink milk just didn't sit well with me and thus I am lowering my rate.

I like the colors of the illustrations and how they aren't too bright and colorful, but still get the story across to the reader. I also think that it was good to see a book where it's okay to feel sad, and the parent section at the end of the book is really nice so that parents can talk to kids about why we get sad and how to deal with it.

This book was really beautiful and I loved reading it to my girls. I love that it explored an emotion that we don't really delve into often in children's literature. The story was sweet and the illustrations were great. My girls loved it.

A simple sweet book about teaching kids how to handle disappointment. I liked the simple message that could still be understood by kids of most ages.

This was very cute and shows the reality of life for small kids. It was very positive and I appreciate the parents not just replacing Stella with a new kitten.

A cute story about a little girl who found a cat that didn't belong to her. She fell in love with it, but it eventually had to go back to its owner, which left her heart broken. This book shows how to see the happy after the sad and how to lift your child up when they are feeling down. There is even some info on the back with info and tips on how to help your child in times of sadness. It bright and fun artwork that made the pictures easy to enjoy.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"if you love something, set it free"

Olive found a stray cat near her house and she was allowed to keep her if no owners came to claim her. Olive was overjoyed, she told the kitty that she can stay for as long as she likes, an this would be her home now. Until one day, the kitty found her owner before Olive even had a chance to say goodbye. Olive felt sadness longing for her kitten, her dad explained to her that he knows Olive is sad, but the kitty and another little girl are very happy, and thats good, right? The kitty will never forget Olive just like he knows Olive will never forget about the kitty.

This is an usual book, with an unsatisfying ending, but I think its a wonderful book that lets kids know, it's okay not to have a happy ending everytime. Its normal to feel sad when you lose something. I especially like the notes to parents where it talks about how important it is to acknowledge your kids emotions if they do feel sad, and to let them feel safe about crying.

The art work is also wonderfully done, my favourite is the page where the background is black and white, and only Olive is in colours.