An inspiring and simple tale that is a must for kindergarten classrooms interested in garnering interest in reading through simple stories.

Great book! Lovely rhythm and pacing. Vibrant illustrations, loved how this book set up and introduced the story of Steinlen, through the little girl becoming fascinated with one of his sculptures. Definitely a book I will introduce into the classroom... Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

A beautifully illustrated, rhyming story. Antoinette learns the history of Theophile Steinlen’s artwork from an antique store cat.
Any parent wishing to expand their child’s knowledge of international artists would be wise to add this book to their home library.

Wonderful illustrations for this children's picture book, about a little girl in France being drawn to a cat sculpture in an antique store. The owner's cat knew the artist's story and why the artist loved to create all different kinds of cat art. This book had a wonderful message for children that everyone has a story to tell about their life.

This is a gorgeous picture book full of colourful, bold illustrations and rhyming lyrical text.

I wanted to read this based on the cover alone- I know it goes against the Don't Judge a Book by its cover adage but it is a lovely cover and I found myself drawn to the historical aspect of it as well.

Antoinette, travelling with her baguette, pops into Monsieur Arvieux's Antique shop after spotting something new in the window. She has clearly visited before and listened to the stories about the items in the shop. It is a wonderful shop full of treasures and charms from history. "Each thing has a past, each place has a history", such a beautiful line from the story. Antoinette sits down to listen to the tale of the cat statue and finds herself drawn into the history of France in the late 1800's when artists and musicians found Paris was the place to be. Steinlin, a superb illustrator of everyday life, is always happiest when drawing cats. He studies fabric design to earn money but always comes back to cats. He realises his dream when he illustrates for a popular artist magazine and over time his work becomes historically recognisable, even today.

Monsieur Arvieux is a loveable grandfather type character who takes the time to care for the items in his shop and learn of their history and story. He clearly loves to share their stories.

I enjoyed learning more about Steinlin and I absolutely loved that it was told in rhyme and in picture book format. It could become a wonderful series, in which we learn of other artists and musicians who came to Paris throughout history. It is an excellent way to introduce art, artists and their lives and history to a younger generation.

I was captivated by the book from start to finish. The illustrations are simply gorgeous, full of bright bold colours and they really bring the story to life.

One to read and enjoy over and over again.

I absolutely adored this book. Written in a rhyming style for children, this picture book tells the story of Theophile Steinlen who was the famed artist of the French “Chat Noir” posters. The illustrations are wonderful! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Telling the story of Theophile Alexandre Steinlen, the artist famous for his Chat Noir cat illustrations, this picture book will please young readers who love cats. A young girl sees a bronze cat in a shop, enters, and hears the story from the shop owner (and from the cat). I enjoyed the illustrations. A little more biographical information is presented after the main part of the picture book. I received an advance copy through NetGalley with the expectation I would write an honest review.

This is a decent picture-book biography, written in rhyming verse, about Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, an artist perhaps best well known for his Chat Noir posters.

The illustrations are cute and the rhyming verse works most of the time (although the meter is off in many places), but I don't feel like I really got a feel for who this guy was. An artist, yes. But aside from a few mentions of struggle, we don't see much about it, and so it's difficult to see why his story is "inspiring". There were many starving artists in Montmartre in the late 1800s, so I would've liked to know what made Steinlen unique. (Perhaps it was the fact that he lived in a house with his family and 56 cats. I really hope that number is an exaggeration.)

I'm not sure who this book is supposed to appeal to. It's not really about cats, despite what the cover might suggest. And as a biography of a historical figure, it's a little bit on the weak side. (At the end, we're shown drawings of famous historical figures that we were supposed to notice as we read through the book. I would've preferred to read more about them in the text, seeing their relationship to Steinlen, rather than just having them as "Where's Waldo?" set pieces.)

The premise is good, but I don't think the execution quite gets there. There's nothing really wrong with this little biography; I just wanted a bit more.

Wonderful story about Steinlen’s life (the artist behind le chat noir) with beautiful illustrations that fits perfectly with the artists story. Great story I love lechat noir it’s one of my favourites abc I never knew that much about the artist, great for adults and children

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book is just so lovely and the illustrations are enhanced by rhythm of the rhyming text. It is a picture book biography of artist, Theophile Steinlen. Steinlen is the artist who created the iconic Le Chat Noir cabaret posters. This beautiful book celebrates art, and inspiration to follow your heart to achieve your personal dreams.

This is a fun way to learn history, art, antiques and the life of an interesting artist.
While I don’t think it will be a book your patrons will clamor for, it does have a definite place in the biography/art collection for elementary and middle school children.

The audience for picture books concerning antique French poster designers must be small, but the charm of this one does make me hope it breaks that mould. Nice rhythms and strong rhymes (apart from "crayon" and "man") help convey the story, which was very pleasantly told. Vivid and active double-page spreads allow space for the story, so at most you get twelve lines of verse per page, and the moral of having a regard for antique things and a curiosity that will make the world better through the resulting art is not forced upon us. I hope the child heroine can go back to the fabled antiques store soon. A strong four stars.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Inner Flower Child Books/Independent Book Publishers for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a children's fiction/biography. Nicely done, the story welds information about the artist in a unique and compelling way. Engaging and beautiful graphics. 5 stars!! I loved it.

This is an utterly beautiful book both linguistically (in the rhythm of the text) and visually (with the stunning images). It tells the store of Steinlen and the famous black cat as well as the process of his creating from childhood through to adulthood. It is a book which will be enjoyed by children and parents alike and I would highly, highly recommend it for all ages from 0 (as it has bright colours and a strong rhythm to the text) through to 10 years of age to stimulate their interest in creativity.