Tuesday , March 19 2024
Zombie Cat is a delightfully macabre picture book for adults and older children about a zombie cat and his master.

Book Review: Zombie Cat: The Tale of a Decomposing Kitty by Isabel Atherton and Bethnay Straker

Zombie Cat: The Tale of a Decomposing Kitty uses the children’s literature format to address an important question you may not have considered yet: what happens to cats and other pets in the Zombie Apocalypse? Would you love your kitty if it was falling apart, and might decide to eat you?

Be warned, though, that this little picture book is not really intended for young children! Older children, teenagers, and adults who can appreciate the dark humor of the story are the intended audience. Think of it as a coffee table book for people with a slightly twisted sense of humor and an appreciation for the macabre, especially the undead.

Tiddles is a typical cat. He lives to eat mice and woo lady cats and has a certain tolerant affection for his owner, Jake, though not a cute and cuddly sort of relationship. Everything in Tiddles life is just as it should be.

But then everything changed in a moment. A toxic waste spill outside of town led to Tiddles’ downfall. He was bitten by a strange field mouse, and the next thing you know he woke up as one of the undead.

Although other animals were devouring humans and happily eating their brains, Tiddles still maintained some compassion and he refrained. But he was decomposing rapidly. Everything depended on Jake. Would he take his old pet in now that everything was falling apart? Would he and Tiddles even survive?

And if Jake has mercy on Tiddles, can Tiddles resist the desire to snack on his master for long?

Bethany Straker’s grotesque yet somehow whimsical drawings combined with Isabel Straker’s storytelling, which captures the feel and rhythm of classic children’s stories, make this a book that will entertain any fan of cats and zombies. It does end rather abruptly, however. But then zombie stories may have those sorts of endings, you know.

About Rhetta Akamatsu

I am an author of non-fiction books and an online journalist. My books include Haunted Marietta, The Irish Slaves, T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do: Blues Women Past and Present, Southern Crossroads: Georgia Bluesand Sex Sells: Women in Photography and Film.

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