Stick Cat: Two Cats and a Baby
by Tom Watson · Stick Cat #4
Jealous cat vs. new baby — absurdist apartment rescue comedy.
The story
When Goose and Tiffany leave baby Millie with Grandma Cobb for the afternoon, the doorknob on the bathroom traps Grandma inside — leaving kind Stick Cat and vain jealous Edith in charge. As Edith cycles through increasingly absurd rescue plans (flushing Grandma down the toilet, waiting for her to lose weight, leaping onto Thanksgiving parade balloons), Stick Cat quietly spots a real way to reach the bathroom window. Along the way, Edith discovers something about herself and the baby she's been resenting all morning.
Age verdict
Best fit 7-9 as independent read; works for 6 as read-aloud and for 10 with diminishing returns. Publisher's 8-12 overshoots.
Our take
kid-loves-it, parent-finds-it-thin, teacher-finds-it-reluctant-reader-ready
What stands out
Each audience's top 3 dimensions. Out of 30 scored per book.
Kids love
- Character voice Strong
Edith's signature is unmistakable — third-person self-reference ('Edith, Edith, Edith\! Modest, modest, modest\!'), hyperbole, coined words ('logic-ocity,' 'flush-a-roo'). Stick Cat's 'Umm, I see.' cadence is the opposite register. Dialogue swap test passes instantly, at Dog Man / Captain Underpants voice tier and above Bad Guys.
- Laugh-out-loud Strong
Multiple sustained absurdist setpieces — hopping-sausage theory (Ch2), toilet-flush rescue (Ch7) with 'peppercorn demi-glace' lunch, maraschino-cherry rhapsody (Ch10), Thanksgiving-parade-balloon rescue (Ch11). Capital-letter sound comedy. Dense and inventive, shoulder-to-shoulder with Captain Underpants and Dog Man, above most Bad Guys entries.
Parents love
- Reading gateway Strong
Short chapters (avg ~875 words), heavy stick-figure illustrations, high dialogue ratio (~65-70%), tiny under-200-word climax chapters (Ch5, Ch12, Ch15). Strong reluctant-reader profile, on par with Dog Man and Bad Guys.
- Creative spark Solid
Edith's three absurd rescue plans model imaginative brainstorming; Ch1A's 'write-a-book-to-impress-someone' meta-frame invites kid authorship; the seven-function necklace is a craft-exercise template. Above typical Dog Man creative spark, below Mr. Lemoncello-class invention puzzles.
Teachers love
- Reluctant reader rescue Strong
Short chapters, heavy stick-figure art, high dialogue ratio, tiny climactic chapters under 200 words (Ch5, Ch12, Ch15), series brand pedigree (Stick Dog / Stick Cat). Near-top-tier, similar to Dog Man / Bad Guys / Diary of a Wimpy Kid and above most illustrated chapter-book competitors.
- Read-aloud power Solid
Capital-letter sound effects, 'Action, Stick Cat, action\!' mantra chanting, Ch17's 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Millie' literal sing-aloud gag, heavy dialogue. At Dog Man / Captain Underpants read-aloud tier, below Roald Dahl's rhythmic peaks or How to Eat Fried Worms.
✓ Perfect for
- • Kids 7-10 who love Dog Man, Bad Guys, or Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- • Reluctant readers who need short chapters and heavy illustrations
- • Families with a new baby arriving (sibling-jealousy conversation)
- • Read-aloud at bedtime or in Gr2-4 classrooms
- • Kids who like animal-centered comedy with real-but-light emotional beats
Not ideal for
Kids looking for high-stakes adventure, rich worldbuilding, or literary prose — this is a comedy character study with modest scope. Series completionists wanting a self-contained mystery or quest will find it structurally simpler than that.
At a glance
- Pages
- 224
- Chapters
- 20
- Words
- 18k
- Difficulty
- Easy
- POV
- Third Person Omniscient
- Illustration
- Heavy
- Published
- 2018
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Illustrator
- Tom Watson
- ISBN
- 9780062741189
Mood & style
You'll know it worked when…
Kids who laugh aloud in Ch2 (the hopping-sausage theory) or Ch7 (the toilet-flush rescue plan) will race to the end; a child who reads the first two chapters without engagement is unlikely to warm up — the book shows all its moves early.
More like this
Same genre, similar age range. Ranked by kid score.
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