Fist of all, the illustrations are amazing, whether you like cats or not, the artist has such a keen skill of perspective and making paintings come to life. I love how the book can be for young toddlers all the way to children learning multiplication and even a great read for cat lovers. It offers something for all ages.

Thompson, L., & Eley, R. (2009). How many cats? New York: Disney/Hyperion Books.
Age: 3 to 6 years old
“How many cats / are here to play? / Zero, zilch. / None today.” Out the window stares the dog, quietly waiting for something to happen. All of a sudden, a cat returns home, and many more follow the feline resident to join in the fun. They take over every room in the house and play with everything they can find. After mayhem ensues, the mischievous cats go their own way, leaving the poor dog the only witness to all the mess they caused.
How many cats? is a counting book with a theme: cats. They are everywhere; from one to ten to twenty, cats follow one another doing things cats love to do: cause mayhem. The text helps readers keep track of the numbers; more than addition, the book challenges readers with simple subtraction and division operations, all based on the charming cats. Text flows easily with simple rhymes, but the illustrations are the star of the book. No cat is like the other; their movements are impeccably represented in colorful illustrations that seem to jump out of the page—the illustration of the first cat through the flap door, for example, gives readers the impression that the cat is looking straight out of the page and into the audience. Children will exercise their Math skills while having a blast following each naughty kitty through the house. ( )

Thompson and Eley make counting fun with this fun rhyming story that has us counting, adding, subracting and grouping our cats-- great for read alouds-- sure to please school groups. ( )