This is such an adorable read. As an adult I enjoyed it, I can imagine a child glee reading this. These lovable characters are on a very unusual journey of self discovery. This is cleverly written and thoroughly engaging. I am getting this for my granddaughter and I know the children in your life will love it!

3.5/5

This was a pretty fun middle-grade book!

I was pulled in by the premise of a mischievous cat, and ran into the nice surprise of body swapping.

Poppy was such a sweet character; she felt pretty believable in her day-to-day struggles, anxieties over friendships and school, and overall desire to be accepted.

Mitten Man was very, very cat-like. She clearly loves Poppy and has good intentions (for the most part), but she is still a cat--no matter how much she tries to behave like a human, Mitten Man will do what Mitten Man believes is best, even if it doesn't align with Poppy's actual desires.

I will admit that the first half of the book felt pretty slow-moving, which slowed me down in my reading progress. While the body swapping was a great inciting incident to get the plot rolling, I felt that we spent too much time hearing about Mitten Man and Poppy's days in their new bodies, without getting any actual action from either of the main characters. It wasn't until Death Tiger showed up for the rescue that the story started to pick up and get me excited about the book again, which hadn't happened since the body swapping.

In the end, both main characters showed personal growth and appreciation for each other, which is ultimately what books for this audience group should strive for.

Overall, it was really fun and enjoyable; though I feel that some middle-grade readers would probably lose interest before the halfway point due to the slow progress in that first half.

*This ARC was received through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I thought I'd seen every variation on the "Freaky Friday" type story but this may be the first time where I've seen a character switching places with an animal. It presents some interesting, inherently humorous, complications but the plot remains standard and thus we have a strong sense of where it is headed. A little weird and populated with somewhat mediocre characters.

I really wanted to like this book. I love cats, I love elementary and middle grade books, but I am sorry to say this was just painful. I hated the cat, I didn’t like the girl, and the whole thing was just not good. I very rarely abandon a book, but I just could not stick with it. So disappointing!

When Poppy was laughed at school after an embarrassing day and friends don’t “stand up” for her she goes home to tell her cat Mitten Man what happened. Mitten Man is a good listener. She wishes she could be Mitten Man with his simple and easy life, she finds herself switched with Mitten Man. Mitten Man has gone into Poppy’s body and of course Poppy has gone into her cat’s body. How did that happen? The two of them can now telepathically talk to each other as long as they are looking at each other. Poppy is now called Big Poppy. Why? Big Poppy isn’t too good about thinking of others and makes some decisions that aren’t too good. Poppy in cat form isn’t happy to be losing friends. She then goes on a dangerous rescue mission that involves a stray cat and a turtle. Will she succeed?

There is a lot of humor throughout the story making me laugh out loud. The story does an excellent job at exploring feelings. Feelings of empathy and understanding are especially explored. It will appear to anyone. It’s a good book for parents and tweens to read and talk about feelings.

This is a fun little story about a girl who magically changes places with her cat. Each of them gets to see the world from the other's point of view and each of them helps problem solve an issue that the other is having. This would make a good mentor text for point of view.

Poppy McBean and her cat Mitten Man are literally walking in each other's footsteps. A magic collar and a wish for happiness turns weird and the two switch in the McBean garage. In their new forms, the cat is Old Poppy (with a 5th grader inside) and Big Poppy is the 11-year-old girl (with a cat inside).
Fortunately the two are able to communicate and decide to stay switched just long enough for Big Poppy to help with a play audition. Meanwhile Aunt Blanche comes to visit with her hippy vibes and determines that the cat belongs in freedom outside. Old Poppy runs away in fear of weasels, skunks, and bullies. Will the two be reunited in time to switch back? Or is this the new normal? This will be a humorous read for cat-lovers. Old Poppy helps solve a neighborhood mystery and Big Poppy dials up the drama in the 5th grade classroom. It was a fun read and reminded me a bit of that classic film "The Shaggy DA."

Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this one out loud to my kids at bedtime and they enjoyed it! My middle school aged daughter completely related to Poppy, and thought that the switching was hilarious. I was a bit horrified that poor Poppy had to stay out in the garage during her first night as a cat, but the kids enjoyed the overall hijinks. Middle school is not easy, but neither is being a cat!

Very cute read, recommend for animal lovers and especially those kids who wish they were cats!

Sweet, mild-mannered Poppy is trying to navigate life in the middle school. Roped into the school play by her friends when she really didn't want to do it, and forced to try out for a part she really doesn't want, Poppy starts to wonder if her friends are real friends. As she becomes more frustrated with her world, she finds herself switching bodies with her cat, Mitten Man. Mitten Man has been fed up her her life as well, and is dealing with other neighborhood cats and has some situations of her own going on that she is having a hard time handling.

I had high expectations for this one and was disappointed. The story was slow and just seemed stuck in the same place no matter how many pages I read. I love the classic Freaky Friday story, and was interested to see how it would for an only child to change places with her pet, but it just didn't work for me.

I think the idea of this plot could be very cute, but there were some parts of this story I did not like. The way the parents treated the cat did not sit well with me. I am not the target audience, but I found it sometimes hard to follow or engage with the story.

There's an awful of angst in this book about fifth graders. The MC was complaining and miserable all the time, and this was not a book about a dysfunctional family.
The premise was cute. A girl and her cat switch places and proceed to mess up each other's lives. The cat is called Mitten Man but it is unclear if the cat is male or female. If the cat is male, this creates an obvious plot hole. The parents seemed to hate the cat and punish him by throwing him in the garage. The cat was just being a normal cat. The cat was not destroying anything or being "bad", whatever that might be. At one point, the mother told the cat he did not deserve his food. I almost stopped reading right there. She did not want to feed the cat? She wanted to punish the cat by withholding his food? I should really give this book 1 star. What a terrible precedent to set for young readers.
Would kids like this book? I really don't know. I think they'd like the idea but they might be as put off by the angst as I was.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review “Don’t Trust the Cat” prior to publication. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

This is the story of what happens to Poppy, a 5th grader and her cat, Mitten Man magically and accidentally switch bodies. Lots of fun. I found the story to be very funny and heartwarming.

This was a cute freaky Friday story, but the switch happened with a cat. The beginning was slow, but it ended on a high not. Not really my taste, but I can recommend to patrons.