Kitty Counts Her Blessings

Kitty Counts Her Blessings is an adorable book which takes a positive spiritual concept– finding the good in life (“blessings”) and focusing on the positive to help balance the negative and cheer a bad mood –then turns that concept into something accessible to everyone regardless of their personal beliefs. In fact, other than the blurb about the author which mentions her deep spirituality and the general connotations of the word “blessings,” nothing religious is mentioned in this book. I personally appreciate that because it allows this book to positively impact a wider audience.

The first thing I noticed about this book was also what drew me to it: the absolutely gorgeous art style.



It's vibrant and cutesy - a little bit modern and a little bit classic. Just looking at the pictures made me smile and I spent quite a bit of time on each page, taking in the details of each scene and appreciating the art. (The screenshot above is just one of the back matter pages for exemplary purposes. In the actual story pages, there are often full scenes with many details interspersed with pages laid out similarly to the back matter.) This is very much the kind of art which both the child and adult can appreciate during storytime.

Written in a rhyme scheme which breaks only for Kitty's lists of blessings, this book tells the story of a cat who begins the day appreciating all the good things in her life but forgets to be appreciative when a rain storm ruins the day. Through the story, she's reminded to keep “counting her blessings” and find ways to make the best of the rainy day by focusing on the positives instead of moping around.

It's a good message in general, completely lacking the usual toxicity that surrounds the notion of counting blessings. This isn't about ignoring the bad or partaking in delusional positivity. Instead, it's about hope and happiness. Teaching children to not to dwell too much on disappointment is a noble cause, as is teaching them to stop and appreciate the good things in the world around them. Doing so through an adorable kitty also helps to make it not seem preachy, since there's a level of removal from humans and it can be taken as literally or metaphorically as the reader prefers.

Overall, I like this book. I think the rhyme scheme is a bit... much at times, though. Sometimes, the wording choices are a little odd, made more with the rhyme in mind than what would sound natural. Nothing is hard to understand for an adult and I doubt it would be hard for a child, but I definitely would have preferred either a bit looser of a rhyme scheme or none at all.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley, but this review is my honest opinion which is being provided voluntarily. I also rented and read this on Kindle Unlimited for purposes of comparing the reading experience... and because I feel this book is good enough to help provide the author with income by renting it.