Nat the Cat's Sunny Smile by Jez Alborough (Children's, Picture book, 10/10E)

 August 2013, Red Fox Books, 32 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Themes: having a picnic, dealing with grumpy friends, feeling a bit down because of how other people are, having others make you feel better

Summary from Random House Children's Publishers

Nat the Cat jumps out of bed with a smile spread halfway round her head.
She's packed a delicious picnic to share with her friends, Billy Goat and Hugo Hare.

But Billy and Hugo are both feeling down. They are just not in a picnicky mood.
Nat carries on alone, but she soon finds that her smile is gone. Luckily, she's passed on her smile to her friends and they soon come along to cheer her right back up again!

Nayuleska's thoughts 

I've had a good laugh reading this book because I kept wanting to tickle and rub Nat's tummy (Something my own cat loves). She is so adorable and the style of illustration makes her coat look extremely fluffy. Part way through the story there is a bit using having her tummy tickled as a description, which made me crack up! 

Nat does her best for her down in the dump friends, and after a while they respond to her cheerfulness. I especially liked how Nat got a bit down because that is realistic when being with friends who aren't quite themselves, as well as the cute bees that made a few appearances. I was smiling with Nat and her friends at the end. I didn't download the song which has lyrics and music within the story but I think that is a cool feature of this book.

 Find out more Jez's website.

Suggested read

For another picnic themed read check out We're Going On A Picnic by Pat Hutchins (Children's, Picture book, 10/10E)