Chi’s Sweet Home (Volume 1), by Kanata Konami Reason for Reading: I’m trying to encourage my 9-year-old reluctant-reader nephew to enjoy books more. I thought he might appreciate a graphic novel, and this one is appropriate for young ages. Plus, he’s been bonding with my young cat recently, so I thought he’d be able to empathize with Chi. 🙂 So far, he hasn’t read it – but he says that he will.
Review
Chi is a “newborn” kitten who gets lost in the big, scary world. She is rescued by the Yamada family, who aren’t allowed to have cats in their apartment. They search in vain for someone to adopt her, but eventually they fall in love with with Chi and decide to keep her. Chi’s thoughts, dreams, and fears are all displayed with adorable big-eyed drawings. I’d read this book within an hour of its arrival on my doorstep. I was sucked right in to Chi’s story because she reminds me so much of my own rescued kitten (both in appearance and attitude). Even if my nephew doesn’t ever read this book, I’m SO glad I discovered it. 😀
Hibernator's Library 
I love cats and mine is a rescue. I think that it is very important for children to build both respect as well as empathy towards animals. So I think that it is a great thing to encourage kids to read stuff like this. Plus as you point out books like this can also be fun for adults!
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I agree, I think bonding with pets is important for developing a sense of empathy in children…and reading books like this help younger children to understand how a cat might feel in a new, frightening environment.
My nephew has never had a pet, and he was afraid of cats when I moved to the area in December. I had to make up a scenario about how HE would feel if HIS mommy took him on a long trip to a jungle with a bunch of scary adults around who didn't speak any English and there were no kids around to play with and he was afraid to go out into the jungle because there might be monsters. My nephew just scowled at me and went back to his XBox. :p It's possible this book would have worked much better than my silly scenario. 🙂
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Amazing how many young readers and especially boys lose interest in reading at around about this age, I hope your nephew enjoyed this.
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Yes, kids often stop reading around that age, I guess. It becomes rather painful to try to get him to sincerely enjoy books!
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