I Didn't Order a Cat

She did NOT order a cat.

But on a Tuesday, one delivered itself - no box, no paperwork, just a gray tabby sitting on the porch like it had an appointment. It walked in past her ankles, gave the whole house a slow inspection, and sat down in the exact middle of the rug. Apparently, they passed.

Then the changes started. The sunny square on the rug? Claimed. Her homework? Sat on - only the page she was using. The house rules, explained once and then louder? It washed its foot. Breakfast at six, the good chair at noon, her bed at night. She has never been ignored this professionally.

So one very organized little girl picks up a crayon and files a FOUND CAT report. FOUND: one gray cat. Striped tail. Attitude included. The signs go up all over the neighborhood. Eleven days. Zero calls.

Then, on Thursday, the phone rings.

From the creator of I Didn't Order a Baby, I Didn't Order a Monster, I Didn't Order a Kiss, I Didn't Order Grandma, and I Didn't Order a Hiccup comes a sixth deadpan-funny story about a big feeling - this time, the quiet ache of loving something that might not be yours to keep. It lets a kid do everything strictly by the book, takes her paperwork completely seriously, and then lets her fill in the last two blank lines with the only answer that was ever true.

Perfect for:

• Kids ages 4-8 who have asked for a cat approximately one thousand times
• Cat people, and the families a cat has already chosen
• Adoption-day, birthday, and just-because gifts
• Read-alouds with a deadpan narrator and one completely unbothered cat

40 pages of warm, funny illustrations, one extremely official piece of paperwork, and two blank lines that finally get filled in.