Raising Feline Literacy

We've all heard a lot about the issues with literacy in the United States, and so I think that in this time of an upcoming election, its appropriate to be alert to opportunities to help with this issues. This morning I had one such opportunity, and Id like to share my thoughts with you on the subject.

Our bookcases have full length glass doors which help to keep them dust free and more attractive. Without them one of us (I wont mention my name) tends to do things like put books in the long way so they stick out if there is something that this person wants to remember. While this might be quaint, and works for Dumbledore, it is a real eyesore in an actual home. Anyway, since weve gotten these bookcases, the issue seems to have magically disappeared.

This morning however, Mary Ann was getting a book to show me something, and left the doors to one of the book cases open. I was quite surprised to see each of the cats go over to the open bookcase, look carefully at the selection on the bottom row, and even paw around to see if there was something of interest to them. None of them actually tried to pull a book out, but that could be because of the subject matter which is woodworking and home repair. So, Ive learned that cats do have a great interest in books, and that it may be that they are only interested in certain subjects.

So, Im going to think about what kinds of books they might like, and see what happens if I stock the shelves with them. Im thinking stuff like "The Cat in the Hat," "The Borrowers," "The Field Guide to Mice and other Rodents," and "Of Mice and Men."

Will let you know how this turns out. In the meantime, I'm not really feeling too bad about not working to increase their access to books in the past. Who knew they could even read?