Travel the World: South Korea: My Cat Copies Me

In today's edition of Travel The World I am reviewing a wonderful, wonderful book called My Cat Copies Me. The author and illustrator isYoon-duck Kwon . The book was originally published in Korea as My Cat Copies Only Me in 2005. The first American edition of My Cat Copies Me was published in 2007 by Kane/Miller. Read more here.

My Cat Copies Me is the story of a girl and a cat. (Obviously.) The two are best of friends. And the text and illustrations show them doing everything together. The book opens with this little poem of sorts:

My cat is very independent.

She doesn't come when I call her,
and she runs away if I try to hug her.
She never looks me in the eye.

But if I pretend I don't see her,
or if I walk away,
then she'll follow me and try to play.
And then, my cat copies me.

The book then shows how the cat copies the young girl. But the second half of the book--the biggest surprise of all--is how the girl comes to copy the cat. In her *imitations* of the cat she becomes braver, bolder, and more confident of herself. In other words, the cat helps her become less timid and shy. And helps her fit in and befriend other children. In some ways it is a book of friendship and love and play, but in other ways it's a book about changing and growing and becoming more confident, more sure, more aware.

I absolutely loved this book. Loved it. It was so incredible. I loved, loved, loved the illustrations. They're just so perfect. So right. I love how the cat and girl are drawn to resemble each other. Everything about this book is just so right, so perfect, so beautifully wonderful. I can't sing its praises enough!