Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley. ( )

As an animal lover it is always hard to say goodbye to a loved pet. In this story Toby tells us what a great cat Jack is. When Jack dies Toby is heartbroken. He does not want another pet until he meets a new kitten. He knows no pet can replace Jack, but he can still love him. The illustrations are cute and would catch the eye of children you read this too. A sad story that turns out all right in the end. A great book to use with young children when they lose a pet.

Thank you Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

(ARC was provided to read and review.)

Jack was Toby's beloved cat. Brave and kind and never boring, for Toby he was just the best, the most perfect cat ever.
But Jack grew old into a grandpa cat and instead of chasing mice, rather started to share a cup of tea with them and he told them stories fom the good old times. (It's one of my favourite illustrations in the book, when Jack and the mice share a cuppa, utterly charming.)
And then, Jack passed away.
For Toby there's no replacement for his cat, he was one of his kind and he misses him dearly.
But after a short time, there's Humphrey, a new cat in the house and the strange thing is, he's actually also quite brave and kind and always up for adventures. Will Toby and Humprey become friends, too? Will Toby accept that now Humphrey lives with his family?

This lovely little book pulled at my heartstrings, because my family isn't far away from having to deal with the same problem.
We owe two cats, one is now quite old, as the author puts it, a grandpa cat. When my son was born, right from the moment go, the two became the best of friends.
Funny thing is, there's a Benjamin in the book, who could pull Jack's whiskers without getting scratched. Well, my son's name is Benjamin and yes, he can pull our cats whiskers AND tail and it will be patiently endured. (As you can imagine, my son just wants to look at this page again and again. It's HIS page.)

The beautifully illustrated picture book deals in a warm hearted and sensitive way with a young childs experience of losing a beloved pet, and offers the hope of acceptance of the situation and new happiness in the future. Well-placed humour did lighten the sad tone for me.
It's a wonderful book, which (sadly) will be in the near future quite helpful to my youngest. ( )