George seems to have a lot of beautiful and poetic thoughts while he sits still.. Here's one of my favourite George thoughts:

'He likes the way your voice changes when you say his name. It sounds like velvet being folded into a smile..'

There are some disappointing comments being made about 'obvious AI usage in this book', and I have seen how deeply saddened the author is by these claims. All I can say on the subject is that even people make mistakes sometimes - perhaps the artistic inconsistencies people have been noticing in the illustrations are because of human error or artist disgretion?
The choice to use AI may not be appoved on in literary circles, but I feel like that does not give anyone the right to make assumptions or attack an artist's character for their work. So let's try to be a bit more kind and remember there are real people behind the art, who see the things we say.

Any story that is wholesome and tells a really lovely tale (and even sneaks some cat facts into it!) is always going to be something I fall in love with quickly. It was a cosy read, but I did sometimes get confused at the target audience of the book, since the perspectives changed and there were those little education sections, which didn't quite blend in with the other pages.

Perhaps in the event of a second publication for the book, some minor artistic changes could be made to keep all the cat limb conspiracy theorists at bay.

UPDATE:

Disappointed to find this was made with AI..


This was super cute for and very nice for what it is. Although advertised as a children's book, I don't think I could get my son to settle down long enough to read this with me. However, this makes for a lovely little book for cat fans. It is beautifully illustrated and does convey a bit of wisdome: find some quiet and enjoy the world around you in this busy time we live in.

It may not be anything groundbreaking but I feel as though this could make a nice feel good book that a cat lover can pull off the shelf in times of poor mood to just lighten up the spirits.

What George Thinks When He Sits Still

Calling all cat lovers, this is a book for you! Cats do not have an intellect like humans. My understanding is that their consciousness is more instinctual, and in the moment. There are times when people would benefit from this mindset. The Illustrations in this book are beautiful to see, and the discussions of their thought processes are insightful.

This book would be a treasure for cat fanciers. Children and caretakers would enjoy it.

The art from this book was so adorable!! It's was so cute! Story wise, it felt more like a small, positive message book. Still, very nice and felt cozy. The art is beautiful.

This was pretty cute! The art is adorable, but it didn't feel cohesive as a story to posit as a picture book; it more felt like an Instagram post of pictures I might scroll through. That said, I'd love to see this creator work with an author on a story, using her cat-drawing skills. The cats were adorable and the individual pages were lovely! George reminds me of my ragdoll cats, and a child who loves cats may like to look through the different pages.

The small passages of text scattered throughout this cute little book were beautifully poetic, and had a magical feel to them, and I love the related illustrations both included with the text and following after until a new passage was introduced. While the passages were short and sweet, it felt to me like they said a lot and were in some cases educational, particularly the latter ones that featured specific cat-facts. The illustrations were so beautiful, and gave me big Studio Ghibli vibes, with the softness of the lines and colours, and had a calming feel to them, and I definitely want to read more from Caroline Bell in the future.

This book was adorable. Loved the cute cat images. It felt like a cozy hug. George seemed so happy and that made me happy.

I'm afraid that I have to agree with many other reviewers about this book. There are too many issues with the illustrations for this to not have been generated by AI. Once you spot one, you can't stop - they're everywhere: the cat has three ears on the Cat TV page, his back grows out from the tip of an ear on the hearts and envelopes page, he has a third front leg on the first ice cream page, he sleeps on the feet of his headless owner on one of the bed pages and has the bed growing out of his back in another, sometimes he has stripes and short fur and other times he is plain gingery-brown with long fur. He is frequently missing his back legs and, in the cardboard box page, has his tail growing from outside the box when he is sat in it. Sometimes his tail has a foot at the end of it.

I am sure that the author has a lovely relationship with her cat and I liked the colour palette used for this book, but other than that, I just found myself becoming more and more irritated as I read this.

I was enjoying this book and how it had me reset and approach life slowly and originally downloaded it because the author said they did their own drawings and the cover is cute.

One drawing however had a cat’s tail sticking on the outside of a cardboard box and it threw me off for a moment— when I went to go to my Goodreads and StoryGraph I saw others that had the same concern that unfortunately it appears the “drawings” were assisted with AI and I would love if the author addressed these claims.

I enjoyed this short little story about the thoughts of her cat George. I am an introvert and sometimes life is too overestimating for me. Like George, I enjoy the quiet and peaceful moments life has to offer. I enjoyed this cute little story that reminds us that “Love is the quietest thought of all.”

I was a little confused about this book. The illustrations threw me off. George the cat looked like 4 different cats. The story was choppy and didn't flow. I definitely felt like there was pacing issues. I liked the idea of this book but it just wasn't executed well at all. I do love the little cat facts that were in the book. I do think if George was drawn to look the same and had some consistency through out the book, and that the story was a little more cohesive that it would be a cute little book for kids who are cat obsessed. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A sweet picture book that is obviously close to the heart of the author/illustrator.
It's a curious mix of first person and third person story plus lists and a few facts about cats as a result it doesn't always flow very well.
The book is a timely reminder to slow down, sit with your thoughts and notice the little things in the world around you.
Recommended for cat lovers only!

I HADDDD to read this. This book is so cute and sweet it reminded me sooo much of my two little orange babies!! I love the art and how it was still educational about the little thoughts our cats have :,)

I was hopeful about this book, as the cover and summary made it seem like a cozy cat-themed picture book, or a sparse graphic novel for all ages. However, as I started reading I was confused by the pages with no words and repeated graphics, extremely similar poses for George, and the disjointed text. I began to suspect that this book was either created with or heavily generated with AI, especially once I got to the graphics with distinct mistakes. I then came to look at other reviews and saw that many other reviewers had the same realization. This was extremely disappointing, as a book about mindfulness through a cat's eyes has the potential to be a lovely story. Unfortunately, the repetitive yet slightly different art and the text that doesn't quite follow a narrative makes this book lack depth and heart, and generative AI does not belong in the book publishing sphere.

At first I thought thi was a really cute and idea. But as I began reading I noticed that the pictures looked a bit off. First of all the artstyle of the cat is always different and there is no consistency in how George is portrayed. For example sometimes the eyes are just black dots while other times he has human eyes with pupils in them. Also the colour of the fur is changing on every page.
There were also some drawings which had details that were weird. LIke George sitting in a cardboard box but yet his tail is outside the box. Or one time the position of his ear is just so off (far too much into his back fur) that I simply cannot believe someone has drawn this. Which sadly leads me to believe almost 100% that this was made by AI and not a human artist.
The text also often repeats itself on many pages, with just slightly different wordings that also feels very weird.
In summary I fully believe this was made while heavily relying on AI for the drawings and possibly the text and therefor only receives 1 star, since it was advertised as being made completely by a human. It is very sad to see that such a nice idea was so badly excecuted due to AI.

Illustrations were cute. The story seemed long but maybe a physical copy of the book would feel different. I think readers with pet cats or cat lovers will love this story.

It's such a wonderful little book that seems perfect for enjoying the illustrations as well as the soft colors. It's easy on the eyes and ends with more modern research and footnotes about what cats are capable of. I enjoyed reading this. Maybe it's because I read it as an ebook rather than a physical book, but the way the pacing felt like little mini arcs with their own rise and falls, it felt like breathing. And I personally have a lot of anxiety and so it felt like it was teaching how to be still and present as you read with George because it would continue longer than you might expect. I adore that if you are a scrapbooker, you could probably make photocopies of some pages and make wonderful additions or even postcards to friends with some of these adorable pages! The illustrations are phenomenal and soothing and I recommend if you enjoy reading about cats and want to have a meditative experience about being still and present like George.

Read this to my nieces and nephews. They ate it up. The illustrations are fantastic. The story really gives children a chance to reflect and see why they need to sit still and listen because they may miss out on whats going on around them. Recommended.

What I loved most about this book was definitely the art style—it’s so cute and gives you a heartwarming feeling while reading! I also liked the switch from the outside viewer’s perspective to George the cat’s.

However, the different scenes felt disconnected from each other and I was a bit confused about why one scene would shift so suddenly to the next without a smooth transition.

Beautifully illustrated book. I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at the illustrations in detail and, as a cat owner myself, it was clear that the author drew and wrote from a very sweet personal experience.
I would have liked to see more structured story to the writing, perhaps following George during his whole day, from morning to night, his time to play and his nap time, and the time when he is peacefully sitting still and enjoying life to its fullest, watching the cat tv as well as just being close to his human.
A book full of love and appreciation for our feline friends.
I know I will be revisiting the illustrations often.