Big Cat, Small Cat (חתול גדול, חתול קטן)

by Ami Rubinger (אמי רובינגר)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Category: Hardcover (available in English and Hebrew)

Hebrew title: חתול גדול, חתול קטן

Author’s Name in Hebrew: אמי רובינגר


Age: 1-3+ years

Synopsis: Ami Rubinger is a prolific, imaginative Israeli author and illustrator of children’s picture books. His picture books feature whimsical and delightfully absurd stories and illustrations. The books also have reoccurring characters. “Big Cat, Small Cat” is a rhyming book about opposites, in which various cats are labeled by their type (small vs. big, tall vs. short, etc.).

Bilingual benefit: This book is available in Hebrew and English, as are most of Mr. Rubinger’s picture books. Both versions of this fanciful feline book rhyme well. While the English language version of this book is available in Israel, we have always read from the Hebrew version. My Hebrew native-speaker husband reads it in Hebrew to our son and I translate it to English as I read it. Our toddler is able to complete the rhymes in Hebrew and to provide the opposites in Hebrew and English. The book also introduced our son to the use of adjectives in Hebrew and English. As there are quite a few alley cats in Israel, our son loves to point out all the “skinny kitties” and “fat kitties” and “white kitties” and “black kitties” in the neighborhood. As a family, we also love this book, along with Mr. Rubinger’s other books, for being a great source of silly humor. We have many, many home videos of our lil guy cracking himself up as he “reads” the book to himself. When he was just shy of 2 years old, he even derived one of his first jokes from the book, declaring that the kitty on the cover was an “aryeh kitty” (lion kitty).

Availability in Israel: The Hebrew and English versions are available in Israel. I have come across the English version in the major chains, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim, in Tel Aviv.

Previewing the book: The Hebrew version of the book is not available for preview on Amazon. However, you can find excerpts of the Hebrew version, including people reading the book out loud, by googling the title in Hebrew (חתול גדול, חתול קטן). The English version is available for preview on Amazon USA. (last checked 2/10/2014).

Lil guy: An all-time favorite.

Mama: Highly recommended. I would buy this again and for a friend. In fact, I gave the Hebrew version as a gift to my son’s preschool!

See all my reviews on books available in Israel, including reviews of Mr. Rubinger's other books available in both English and Hebrew: “Dog Number 1, Dog Number 10" and "I Dream of an Elephant." See all my reviews on books available in both English and Hebrew.

Follow Liane's board Ami Rubinger (אמי רובינגר) on Pinterest.

Bilingual Resources

Children's books available in both English and Hebrew

Finding English language books in Israel for toddlers