A wonderful story teaches being sad.
When the little girl Olive found out that the cat was sent back to its owner, my heart sank with her. :-( But, we should be happy that the cat is back to its owner, its own home. Just reminded me that last year, I found a lost puppy, and with many people's help, I was able to send the puppy back to its home. A happy ending.
Love this picture book.

An utterly wonderful book which gently explores the theme of sadness for young children. It is sensitively written and the pictures are beyond beautiful. This publisher never fails to give us books which are needed and which tell their stories with well thought out words and world class illustrations. The addition of ways to help children with sadness written by a psychologist at the back is well placed, making this series one which all those caring for and teaching young children will find a wonderful resource.

With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a beautiful read.

For me this was more successful as a part of this series than the first I saw, regarding the exuberance of youthful joy. Here we are concerned with an emotion that it seems to me is harder to get right when dealing with the very young. Our heroine tries to adopt a kitten that passes her bedroom window one day, and faces the dejection, loss and bereavement kind of emotions when the cat fails to return to her home one day, never to be seen again. The other volume wasn't bad in any way, but here the story has more depth for repeat readings, and as I say it would appear that coping with such miserable situations is more important a lesson for the parents whose instincts fail them than would be just delight. The two pages of educational back-matter are of equal importance to the entertainment from the nicely-illustrated story, and it all seemed more essential than the previous.

One Sunday morning while everyone is sleeping Olive creeps downstairs to have a bite to eat. She hears a sound at the kitchen window and proceeds to discover the source of it. She finds an adorable little kitten outside and opens the window to let the little creature in. Olive notices that the kitten isn't wearing a collar and seems to be lost or abandoned... and hungry too.

When Olive's mother comes down stairs Olive excitedly asks if she can keep the precious little furry bundle. Her mom says that Olive can feed the kitten and look after her but if someone comes looking for her she has to go home.

Delighted Olive and her new kitten friend are inseparable for seven days but on the eighth day the kitten mysteriously vanishes. There is no sign of her at all. Olive and her parents go out searching to see if they can find her. Will their search be successful and if they can't locate her how will this make Olive feel?

I love the colourful, kid-friendly illustrations and the discussions that they will invoke. The author has included a segment of ways to help children cope with sadness at the back of the book. They are a wonderful resource for parents, caregivers or educators. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this fab book.
When Olive finds a cat with no collar at the window, she has found a new friend. But the cat’s home is not with Olive and the cat will need to go home at some point.
I love everything about this book, it is wonderful.
The story is heartfelt and warming and will make a strong connection with young children. It is a great story to read out loud also.
Sophie Bouxom’s illustrations are adorable and remind me of Sendak’s illustrations for Ruth Krauss books. And the yellow background and white space throughout the book, really helps to lift the sadness of the story to a story of hope and love and celebration.
As a bonus, at the back are many tips on how to deal with children who are sad. The story is one which will encourage parent and child to have a conversation about things that have made them sad.

A children's book to help discuss sadness.

The notes to adults and parents at the end of this book is as important as the story might be to youngsters.

Olive has the opportunity to care for a beautiful kitten, but is sad when the kitten is found by her owner. Olive's dad notices Olive's sadness and is able to help her overcome this difficult time in a very touching way.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher (Quarto Publishing Group) and the author Kochka for the opportunity to read this advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is Mar 23, 2021.
Some words in the notes to adults/parents contain British spelling instead of American spelling.

This is a brightly colored, illustrated book on the subject of sadness for young children . The loss in the story does not involve death. I think that the story offers a way to open up discussion about feelings without being very threatening.

The story has to do with Olive finding a stray cat and being overjoyed to have a pet. How does she feel when this kitten goes back to its owner?

This book has a situation to which children can relate. It offers a helpful way to introduce conversations about feelings with the youngest children. There is a helpful section for adults at the end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

A sweet and leisurely-paced story for young readers told through thoughtful text and charming illustrations.

This book so gently handles the topic of sadness for children. Through a story of a cat adoption which turned out to be a cat foster situation, a little girl learns to let go and deal with her emotions. The illustrations are vivid and compliment the plot.

Such a bittersweet book about a kitten finding a little girl and then going back home, leaving the little girl sad. It’s a good book to open a dialogue with children about their feelings and the illustrations are pretty.

The book talks about a girl who found a kitten without a collar. Olive took care of the kitten for about a week, until one day the kitten was gone. Turned out that she belongs to someone else! Olive was heartbroken and sad, and her dad comforted her and helped her to navigate through the sadness. At the end of the book, there is a really helpful guide to help children deal with sadness in a healthy way.
This is great for young children who needs help naming and dealing with emotions!

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.

A Cat With No Name: A Story About Sadness was a very good story about a lost kitten who has been temporarily adopted by a little girl, Olive. The story deals with the inevitable separation and loss of the cat when it returns to its owner and Olive turns her sadness into something positive and special.

What I liked about this book was that it was a simple and short story about sadness in a situation younger children could relate to. I liked how the father took his daughter out for a little treat of hot chocolate to comfort her as he spoke with her about being happy for the cat finding its owner. He praises her for taking care of the cat, validates his daughter’s feelings of sadness where most books would just try to mask the child’s feelings by replacing the cat. Think it was great that Olive’s father encourages her to turn her grief into something positive like remembering the cat when she looks at the stars.

It’s kind of the end of the story with the conversation with the father, I don’t think there needed to be much more of an explanation or to drag the story out longer like some of the other reviews suggested. With the inclusion of the resources at the end of the book about sadness, I believe some parents will find it useful when comforting their children who are feeling sad.

I would recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Quarto Kids + NetGalley for the advance review copy of "A Cat with No Name" by Kochka, illustrated by Marie Leghima, and with tips for parents by Louison Nielman.

Social emotional intelligence is one of the most important skills we can teach our children, but also one of the most difficult to coach and work on. The story is completely relatable, the characters will feel real to littles, and the parent tips are just right.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.