Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Starred Review Imagine a flat cat. How flat? He can slither beneath doors. He can float like a kite among the clouds. He can nap beneath the underwear in a drawer. He's smart, detached, and infinitely cool. But one day, he is accidentally sent through the washing machine, along with the dirty clothes. When he emerges from the dryer, Flat Cat is no longer flat. He has become "the most adorable puffy, furry, fuzzy-wuzzy feline you ever did see!" His desperate attempts to reflatten himself are futile, until Aunt Harriet sits on him. Suddenly slim, he misses being a hug magnet. After another washer/dryer ordeal, he emerges puffy, endearing, and content. Best known for creating Hike (2020) and the art for Jory John's The Bad Seed (2017) and other Food Group series titles, Oswald brings Flat Cat to life in digital pictures incorporating gouache textures. Drawn with quiet humor, the expressive, imaginative illustrations contrast the cat's self-sufficient demeanor with his inner need for affection. Lazar's narrative shifts in tone as the cool cat is transformed into an adorable one and back, until he realizes what he really wants. As the narrator comments in closing, "Smooth moves, Flat Cat!" This amusing picture book is fun for reading aloud.

Kirkus Reviews

Flat or fluffy, is there a better way to be?"Flat Cat was born flat." He wasn't the victim of a horrible accident involving an ice cream truck or waffle iron, and he likes being flat. He can slide under doors or drift high like a kite or even blend into the background. And after all those smooth moves, he can nap anywhere…on bookshelves or towel racks. "Here…and there. Even under the underwear." That turns out to be disastrous. Asleep in a big pile of laundry, Flat Cat ends up in the washing machine and then the dryer…from which he emerges FLUFFY! All of a sudden, he's so round and fuzzy that everyone wants to snuggle with him-but cute and cuddly aren't his thing. He even gets stuck in the cat flap now. All of the hugging and squeezing are making him flatter again. However, Flat Cat realizes he kind of likes feeling comfy and cozy instead of blending in-then light-skinned Aunt Harriet sits on him. Flat again, he can do all his old tricks, but he gets no smooches. Luckily he knows how to fluff again! Lazar's wryly humorous tale won't leave young audiences flat, while Oswald's purple-tinged cartoon depictions of this Flat Stanley–style feline add their share of giggles (as usual). Humans depicted are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A hilarious reminder that versatility will have you feline fine. (Picture book. 3-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

The “slick, sly” feline protagonist of this picture book is two-dimensional and loving it: his “smooth moves” involve roaming anyplace he pleases and snoozing “in any nook and cranny,” including, as purple-tinted, thick-lined digital art by Oswald (Sleepy Sheepy) shows, draped over a towel bar. But when Flat Cat is accidentally mixed up with the laundry, he emerges from the dryer as round as a basketball—or, as text from Lazar (Bloop) coos, as “the most adorable puffy, furry, fuzzy-wuzzy feline you ever did see!” At first, Flat Cat can’t wait to return to his independent 2-D state, but when exuberantly affectionate Aunt Harriet, portrayed with pale skin, inadvertently sits on him, a return to his previously flat state slowly prompts a realization that “he wasn’t keen to be totally unseen.” In fact, he now believes that the three-dimensional life has its rewards in connection—feeling “warm, comfy-cozy, or even the teensiest bit rosy.” Maybe, as long as Aunt Harriet and a clothes dryer are handy, he doesn’t have to choose? Featuring groovy text, it’s a Flat Stanley-flavored take on rolling with the punches and fluidly embracing newfound facets and friends. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Sept.)