Review of “Chato the Puppy-Cat” by Anita Haas

Score: 91/100 (9.1 out of 10)

Chato the Puppy-Cat by Anita Haas was a pleasant little surprise!

You can't judge a book solely by its cover, nor can you dismiss it by merely glimpsing at its art. This book is surprisingly well-written with playful, sing-songy lyrics and a fun little rhyme scheme that will delight you and your children. It also features some really cute and hilarious characters and moments!

Chato the Puppy-Cat is the story of a raggedy little dog named Chato who is adopted by a portly middle-aged woman named Susi Van Husen. Susi always dreamed of owning a cat, and she had an idealized view of what owning a cat would be like. She assumed that all cats love to play with yarn and eat fish.

Hilariously, Susi mistakes Chato for being a cat (instead of a dog) due to his raggedy appearance. Silly Susi! Your kids will be laughing and pointing out how funny and goofy Susi is.

Her antics really are hilarious!

She constantly tries to get Chato to play with yarn and tries to get him to eat fish. However, none of this seems to stimulate Chato. She also wonders why Chato goes “arf arf” and “bark bark” instead of “meow.” You can't help but point and shout at the page. It is actually a very engaging book for a young audience!

The only real weakness this book has is, unfortunately, the most apparent one: the illustrations are a little wonky and some even seem unfinished. There are parts of this book that are colored, and parts that aren't. The grand majority of this book is black & white/uncolored, although the author still attempted to add color in perhaps the simplest way possible: via the edges (like a frame) and under the text.

Susi, it can be argued, isn't exactly the most appealing figure to look at. She is actually a little frightening to look at initially. This isn't necessarily that she's portly, it's that she looks like a caricature with an enormous head and a very intense stare. This is especially apparent when she's upset or worried. There are times when she's smiling when she does look friendly and inviting, almost like that grandma or older aunt you love to visit.

Chato, though, is quite cute and appealing. His facial expressions are portrayed very well as he alternates from confusion to sadness to joy.

When we really dug into this book, the illustration quality ultimately didn't matter too much. Dilbert and Garfield were massive successes and international best-sellers with this style of art. Ultimately, it was the characters and the humor that won the day in all of these.

Check it out on Goodreads!