My Fat Cat

We recently moved to Portland, Oregon, from a four-bedroom house in California with a big backyard, to a two-bedroom condo right downtown. Since we’re on the ground floor, our tiny balcony feels more like a back porch—it even has a gate that opens up into a condo courtyard with trees, bushes, flowers, and birds.

Condo living is full of rules, we’ve come to discover. This is not surprising, seeing as how a lot of families have to share the same close quarters. But as I flipped through the fat binder of condo rules, one in particular caught my eye: unaccompanied pets are not allowed in the courtyard.

The thinking behind this rule is clear—we all chip in to pay for landscaping, after all, and no one wants their view spoiled by damage done by a neighbor’s pet. So when we moved here, I resigned myself to the idea that our big old bull of a cat, Apollo (13 years old, 13 pounds and growing!), would have to become an indoor cat. No more prowling the grounds, sniffing the air and surveying his domain, as he had done in our old backyard. He would have to be king of the forest through a glass window pane.

The cat was not pleased about this new arrangement, and in the four months we’ve lived here, I’ve watched him grow less and less interested in looking out the window, less playful in general, in fact, and more likely to sleep the day away.

Granted, he is getting older, but it seemed like he was aging awfully fast. I felt terrible about this.

And so, my husband and I revisited the condo rules and decided that it was the concept of ‘unaccompanied’ that was the sticking point. If my lovely neighbor Laura could walk her cute King Charles Spaniel (named Charlie!) through the courtyard—on a leash—couldn’t I sit on my balcony with a cup of tea in the morning and let my cat outside? I decided that I could.

The cat has been sniffing. Exploring. He is just thin enough (barely!) that he can squeeze under the gate and sit beneath a shrub. I wasn’t surprised that he’d like our new routine, but what has surprised me is his sudden interest in once more looking out the window. He is king of his domain now and needs to keep a close eye on it.

As fascinating as it is to read about other people’s pets, this post does actually relate to nonfiction books for kids. The world outside the window held very little interest to Apollo until he experienced it for himself—until he could sniff the moist ground, feel the breeze, and hear and see (but hopefully not taste) the birds.

When we want kids to get interested in the world outside their classroom, sharing well-written nonfiction books can help. Textbooks may provide the dry facts necessary to pass a test, but a good nonfiction book can engage the senses and the imagination (and still provide the facts to pass the test!) Nonfiction books can make the world come alive.

If you’re a teacher, display nonfiction in your classroom. Reinforce the idea of reading nonfiction for pleasure—the simple pleasure of learning something new.

If you’re a librarian, include nonfiction books at story time. ‘Book talk’ longer titles.

If you’re a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or even a second cousin, consider nonfiction books when choosing a gift for a young person.

And if you’re on my condo board, please don’t make me put my cat on a leash.