The Kitty Debate COVER to COVER
Written by Romy Natalia Goldberg
by Tanja Varcelija
Illustrated
COVER to COVER The Kitty Debate
Written by Romy Natalia Goldberg
Illustrated by Tanja Varcelija
Student Contributor: Riysa Jannat
Katia and Emily were sisters, and they were different in almost every way.
Katia liked exploring new worlds in books.
Emily liked exploring this one.
Katia liked things organized.
Emily had her own way of organizing things.
But there was one thing they had in common—they both wanted a cat. They just couldn’t agree how to do it.
“I’ll be in charge of caring for the kitty cat,” Katia said.
“No, I’ll do it,” Emily insisted.
“Caring for a cat takes teamwork,”
Papá said. “If you can’t work together . . .”
“We will!” both girls interrupted.
“We promise.”
“Awww, he’s so cuddly! We’re going to call him Fuzzy!” declared Katia.
She had always wanted a cat to cuddle up and read with.
Emily disagreed. “He’s so sleek and black, we should call him Panther!”
She loved exploring and had always wanted a cat to come along on her expeditions.
Papá said, “Well, while you decide on a name, you have to make a list of things the cat needs.”
“I know,” Katia said to her sister. “Whoever does a better job with the list will get to name him. Agreed?”
Katia smiled. She knew she would definitely win. She read stories about cats all the time. How much different could a real cat be from one in a book?
Emily shook her sister’s hand. “Deal!” Emily was sure she would win. She knew all about big, wild cats from watching nature shows. How different could a cat be from a tiger or jaguar?
“The first item is food,” Katia said. “What will the kitty eat?” “Zebras!” said Emily. “Or gazelles.”
“He’s a cat, not a lion!” Katia cried.
“Besides, he’s a baby. I’ve read that all baby mammals drink milk.”
Emily had to admit their kitty was probably too young to hunt a gazelle.
They were out of milk, but . . .
They did have ice cream!
“I bet he’ll like vanilla!” said Emily, digging through the freezer.
“I think chocolate will taste better,” said Katia.
The cat was not impressed with either flavor, but he was very interested in the frozen fish sticks.
A light bulb went on in Emily’s head. She pointed to the canned tuna fish in the pantry. “There are cans like this in the store, but for cats.”
“Let’s add that to the list,” Katia said. She gave a point to Emily for that idea.
“Next we have to decide where the kitty will go to the bathroom,” Emily said.
“In the bathroom, of course!” said Katia. “We can teach him to use the toilet. This way the house stays nice and clean.”
The cat didn’t like sitting on the toilet, but he loved the toilet paper!
“There aren’t any bathrooms in the wild,” said Emily. “He should do his business outside while he’s hunting.”
“The
kitty is not going outside to hunt,” protested Katia. “He’ll need a litter box for inside.”
Emily added a litter box to the list.
“One point for you, sis.”
“We still need to figure out where the kitty is going to sleep,” said Emily.
“He’ll sleep here on the couch next to me,” said Katia. “That way I can play lullabies on the tuba for him.”
“No, the kitty will sleep on the porch,” declared Emily.
“That way we can observe the plants and animals outside every day before dinner.”
“Here!” insisted Katia.
“There!” repeated Emily.
They argued back and forth until . . .
The cat fell asleep by the window.
Papá said, “Looks like the kitten wants to decide where to sleep for himself.”
“I guess no one wins that point,” said Emily.
“So there’s one point for you, and one for me. We’re tied,” said Katia.
“Now what are we going to name the kitty?”
Emily thought for a moment. “We can name him Fuzzy like you wanted,” she said. She preferred the name Panther, but she wanted to be a team player. Katia smiled. “I like the name Panther that you chose,” she said. She preferred Fuzzy, but she wanted to work together with her sister.
Just then, both sisters looked at each other and . . .
“Fuzzy Panther!” they said in unison.
“It’s the perfect name,” Papá said.
Even the cat purred in agreement.
Later that day, they all went to the pet store to buy Fuzzy Panther what he needed.
“You were right,” Katia said. “He loves fish.”
Emily whispered in the cat’s ear, “Someday you’ll hunt a gazelle.”
Next, they picked out a litter box.
It was definitely better for the cat to stay out of the bathroom.
Last but not least, Katia and Emily chose a bed for Fuzzy Panther, but he slept wherever he wanted. Sometimes he even slept in the living room. . .
But never during tuba practice.
This book is dedicated to young readers everywhere. May you thrive in your wondrous reading journeys.
www.mascotbooks.com
Reading Partners Cover to Cover The Kitty Debate by
Romy Natalia Goldberg
©2025. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, or photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the author.
For more information, please contact: Mascot Kids, an imprint of Amplify Publishing Group 620 Herndon Parkway, Suite 220 Herndon, VA 20170
info@mascotbooks.com
ISBN: 979-8-89138-740-9
Printed in the United States
The Kitty Debate illustrated by Tanja Varcelija
COVER to COVER
About this Book
Sisters Katia and Emily are different in every way, except they both want a pet cat. But Papá isn’t convinced the girls can work well enough together—they can’t even agree on a name! As Katia and Emily debate how to best care for their new kitty, they soon learn that teamwork and compromise are what’s needed most.
About Reading Partners
Reading Partners is a national early literacy nonprofit that partners with schools, community-based organizations, volunteers, and families to provide individualized tutoring and other evidence-based literacy support for students striving to read at grade level. The Reading Partners Cover to Cover series is for readers of all levels with a focus on instructional practices rooted in the science of reading. The stories in the series include and celebrate a broad range of affirming characters and experiences. The Reading Partners team recognizes that learning to read is a civil right, and we aim to ensure students have the resources necessary to foster lifelong literacy skills and confidence to actualize their limitless potential. We envision a future where every reader has the skills they need to read a book from cover to cover and then reach for another!
