What a Small Cat Needs

One of LitHub's Most Anticipated Children’s Books of 2026! • Sweet, tender, and perfect for the youngest picture book readers, this winning story about a most adorable kitten is an affectionate invitation to identify with and love this small cat. What does a small cat need? Two little eyes, two little ears, big whiskers, and a tail, to start. What else does a small cat need? Maybe a walk in the flowers, a sip of milk, or a warm spot to laze around in the sun. But above all else, what a small cat needs is... someone big or little—maybe someone just like you!—with cuddly arms and a huge heart to pet it and hear it purr. Yes, every cat needs that! This is a tender and universal story through which author-illustrator Natalia Shaloshvili achieves something quite rare: illustrations that are of great artistic quality, and yet succeed in being warm, funny and relatable to children. With beautiful pacing and emotionally astute moments, this small story succeeds brilliantly in structuring an identification between small cat and child that will have young readers returning to this book again and again—to see themselves, while also feeling love and care for this irresistible kitten.