Simon's Cat: Beyond the Fence

Simon Tofield is a cat owner; a multiple cat owner.  He might even be considered a "crazy cat man."  Tofield is also a talented artist and first came into the internet's public eye when he released an animated short called "Cat Man Do" about a kitty trying to get his sleeping owner out of bed.  "Cat Man Do" went viral in 2008 and now has 24 million hits on youtube.  With internet celebrity in tow, Tofield released a collection of drawings amply named "Simon's Cat: in his very own book"

I own this book, and it is awesome, but I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about it's sequel 'beyond the fence.'  The first book centered around Simon's Cat's adventures in the house, beyond the fence is about his adventures outside in the English country side (Tofield is British, and has an appreciation for the outdoors)

If the fact that Tofield didn't have four cats didn't clue you into his love of cats the artwork of this book will leave no doubt as to how much inspiration and humor he gets from watching his own cats.  From quick little scenarios of catching animals outside to being a pain in his owner's butt, we know Tofield draws from personal experience and his own cat family.

I wasn't quite sure how this book would function since much of the humor from the first book was derived from the cat/human interaction and this book focuses on cat/outdoors for humor.  Thankfully, it works wonderfully.  Simon's cat meets new friends as he wanders the countryside and spends some time at a local farm.  With absolutely no dialog the drawings tell everything and Tofield really does a great job.  These drawings aren't all realism, and there is much to laugh at much like a funnier version of Garfield. 

Seriously...go buy this book.  As a cat lover and a person with a sense of humor, you will appreciate this

Rating: 5 out of 5

Who should buy this book:  Cat lovers, people who find cat hijinks funny, people who enjoy internet cat humor
Who Shouldn't: people who don't "get" cats, heartless monsters
Where: Amazon.com, currently $11.19

Until next time:

- J