Catch That Rat

I don't like saying bad things about picture books. I really don't. Picture books should be joyful things that entrance children and make them want to love books for the rest of their lives. There a many examples I could give of this, anything by the Ahlberg's or the wonderful Judith Kerr, Mick Inkpen and the timeless Eric Carle to name just four, I could easily go on and on and on.
Caryl Hart has written many children's books. I really liked one recent one, The Princess and the Peas, but I want to talk about her latest book, Catch That Rat.
It is a rhyming book a little bit similar to the Grande Dame of rhyming Children's books Julia Donaldson. It opens with a small white rat, dressed in rags running over a little girl's toes. After a little tippety tappety rhyming text the first spread ends with the words "Catch That Rat!" This refrain is used over the next half dozen pages at the end of the rhymes. It's nice for children to join in with. I can imagine a lot of children I know shouting this really rather too loudly. The little girl chases the rat through the house joined by her grandma then the postman and a builder and finally they end up in space where an alien points out the main problem of the entire book. The rat is scared. It is being chased for no reason whatsoever. This poor little rat has been chased over the course of the book for pretty much nothing. Which is why I don't like this book. It's a little thing, but it annoyed me a lot.