I Have Three Cats . . . by Michelle Sumovich, illustrated by Laura Park
- Cana Clark
- Apr 19
- 3 min read
For anyone who has ever wondered, "how many cats is too many?"
The narrator of this picture book is a little girl with three cats - Big, Little, and Middle. The cats enjoy their yard but are plagued by a funky-looking stray who keeps showing up. To help the stray find its people, the little girl makes a poster.
"FOUND!" The first poster says. "Terrible cat. Come and get her!" Clearly, the stray is not wanted in this house.
But while feeding Big, Little, and Middle, the girl worries at how hungry the stray seems. Curlicues and bold lines around the yowling stray tell us just how loud this cat is begging.
Despite her mother's gentle warnings not to pet or feed it, the little girl can't help but fret over the stray. With every page, she gives in a little more. First some food, then a bath, then a blanket. The posters go from describing the stray as "terrible cat" and "itchy cat" to just, "found cat."
The stray gets friendlier with Big, Little, and Middle. They cuddle together in the sunshine and share cuddles in the cold. It's so fun to watch each cat warm up to the stray!
When the book takes its inevitable turn and the stray disappears for days, the cats all fret alongside the little girl. Their concerned faces are enough to make your own heart twist. The girl's newest poster says, "LOST CAT: Please Help! Reward: $3.47."
But just as any caretaker of outdoor cats knows, the stray eventually comes home on her own time. The family rejoices and the stray officially joins the family, collar and everything. The stray, once "Terrible Cat," is now named "Extra." The last line of the book is a delightful callback to the title as the girl declares, "I have four cats."
What makes this stray-becomes-family story special is the use of patterns and the attention to detail. The pattern of the Found poster changing throughout the book reveals the girl's changing feelings towards the stray. The repetition of the refrain, "I have three cats," feels poetic and works as a jumping off point for each new development in the story. Even the cats' names follow a pattern; Big, Little, Middle, and Extra. (Extra! I love that).
All the cats are so delightfully detailed. Big, Little, and Middle's expressions as they react to the stray serve to characterize them, while their their various fur textures and body shapes make them feel distinct. I loved the juxtaposition of their designs next to the stray's wild spiky fur and lanky limbs. The way all the cats shoved together onto the doormat was such a fun "if I fits, I sits" moment. You can tell that the illustrator has cats!
Another detail I appreciated was the girl's mother. Her face is never shown, but her comments and dialogue provide characterization nonetheless. All her chiding about not feeding the stray implies that her the little girl has a habit of feeding outdoor animals (ahem—raccoons and possums). In the end, we know she's given in and accepted the stray — a mother who feels empathetic rather than indulgent. (Perhaps the little girl inherited her empathy for stray creatures).
The best details are in the endpapers! The endpapers at the beginning show the little girl's drawings of her with Big, Little, and Middle. The endpapers at the end feature Extra added to the mix with all new drawings. Like Shaun Tan once said, the endpapers are the parentheses of a picture book. I Have Three Cats... takes full advantage of the endpapers. It was like having a prologue and an epilogue!
I Have Three Cats... is a top tier found animal story. You can tell that each sentence and every illustration was made with care. With thoughtful illustrations and playful, poetic text, Sumovich and Park create a book I want to read again and again. And maybe, just maybe, it'll convince my girlfriend we need another cat.
Book Info
Title: I Have Three Cats . . .
Publisher: Dial Books/Penguin Random House
ISBN: 9780593112717
Author: Michelle Sumovich
Illustrator: Laura Park
Pub date: Jan 28, 2025
For more information on endpapers, I recommend this article by Veronica Esposito: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/18/endpaper-art-exhibit-eric-carle-museum-amherst-massachusetts
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