Reviewed by: What Cats Are Made Of Jeannette Hulick Piven, Hanoch . What Cats Are Made Of; written and illus. by Hanoch Piven. Seo/Atheneum, 2009 32p. ISBN 978-1-4169-1531-7 $16.99 Ad Gr. 3-5 Twelve breeds of cats are briefly presented here, each as a representation of a particular feline quality or characteristic; for example, the statement "Cats are made of [End Page 330] brains" is followed by a short discussion of the Siamese's intelligence, while "Cats are made of origami" is followed by a description of the Scottish Fold. Interspersed with the short, breed-specific bits of info are other, occasionally random, cat facts (e.g., the page on the "glamorous" Persian features a fact about a cat's taste receptors). The presented facts are piquant enough ("[Exotic Shorthairs] are known as 'the lazy man's Persian' because their short hair makes them easy to groom"), and the breeds covered include both the common and the lesser known. The crafty collage illustrations (mixed with line drawings and digital backgrounds) are clever and intriguing, and kids will enjoy deconstructing the illustrated cats into their various components (the brainy Siamese, for example, is made of various computer parts as well as other items). Many kids, especially those with little cat experience, will wish that there were photos, however, since the art is more creative than explanatory, sometimes failing to illustrate characteristics mentioned in the text; the text itself is basically simply a list, and it's light on both scope and organization. Despite its shortcomings, this is still a browsable and pleasing title (readers will also enjoy the "cat superstitions" included at the book's end), and it would make a natural segue into further cat study or a collage project. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois