Cleo and Cornelius are two cats who are worshipped and pampered in ancient Egypt. One day, they are separated when Cornelius accidentally boards a ship to Rome. Cleo takes off to find her cousin and bring him home, but when he shows her the excitement of Rome, she may be unable to return back to Egypt and resume her life as a noble, lazy housecat. The story and illustrations are cute and funny, but also heartwarming and teach about different personalities and perspectives.

The end of the book has a note which explores the historical context of the story. Cleo and Cornelius: A Tale of Two Kitties is loosely based on “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” by Aesop. It also teaches about how cats spread across Europe due to the Roman trade. The notes section also contains Egyptian and Roman folklore about other animals, including dogs and birds; and pictures of arts and antiques from mediterranean cultures.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

Cleo and Cornelius is a tale of two cats who wander far from home. Many children's books tell a story of the main character(s) going off on an adventure, as does this one; however, this one takes place around two thousand years ago in ancient Egypt and Rome. The characters are absolutely adorable! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author provided a few pages of information on ancient Egypt and Rome at the end of the story. I hope the creators will continue to makes stories as fun as this one.

It is somehow inspired by The Town Mouse and the City Mouse by Aesop. Cleo and Cornelius are Egyptian cats and one day, Cornelius accidentally gets on a boat to Ancient Rome so Cleo has to go rescue him.
I thought it would be cute but turned out to be superficial. The illustrations were adorable, but the story was not memorable at all. I appreciated the ending, which gave information on what inspired the story and the history it is based on.

First, let me say that the illustrations in this one are simply stunning. Thankfully, that is not the only thing that makes this book a winner. As a teacher, I can think of a couple of reasons to have this in a classroom library: The first is that it is a reimagining of a classic Aesop fable and the second is that it can be used so that children can visualize life in Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. Taking off my teacher's hat, this book is just a delightful romp!

This was such a fun take on an old story. It was adorable, even though I am not a cat person. I used this book in my 7th grade classroom, and they loved the book as well!

A cute story of two cats living in ancient Egypt, when cats were worshiped as gods. Cornelius loves the extravagant life-style, being the lazy cat that he is, while Cleo always loves a good adventure. One day Cornelius finds himself on a boat traveling to Rome, which happens to worship dogs instead of cats. Cleo comes to rescue him, and they both find themselves immersed in the culture and the activities taking place.
Having a cat myself, I can relate to Cornelius's thinking that cats should be pampered foot and paw, day and night; I couldn't imagine my cat out on her own, especially with dogs around. The pictures in the story were lively and helped to tell the story, especially for younger readers who have to rely on the pictures.

I was expecting more facts about Ancient Egypt, but was surprised that this wasloosely based on The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. It is cute, and I think younger children would enjoy and perhaps be encouraged to find out more about both Ancient Egypt and Rome. Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC.

Princess Fuzzypants here: My ARC on my Kindle did not come through particularly well but what I saw of the book, I did enjoy. I wish I could give it a more thorough review but it was difficult to read.
The stories appeared to be charming and I liked the pictures too.
i can only give it four purrs and one paw up because I was not able to read it properly.

The story line was fun and it feels like you learn something while you read it. My son enjoyed it a lot. Both cats are funny and they have different personalities but love each other. The illustrations are really nice too, lots of little details to see.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

A fun romp, Greta for cat lovers. Mixes facts of ancient Egypt with the fanciful adventures of two delightfully intelligent pampered felines with a hankering for travel. A great addition to any child’s storybook library.

This book follows Cleo and Cornelius when they get separated and Cornelius ends up in Rome! Cleo sets off to find him and the adventure begins. The illustrations in this book are beautiful! Very engaging with lots of different hidden pictures and things to look at. The story did fall a little flat at times, and made me wonder if it had been edited down too much? I felt like there could have been more adventure in Rome with the cats! So much was left out, in my opinion. Overall, this is an enjoyable read. The end of the book contains great factual information which will be great for students who want to learn more! Recommend for an elementary library or a children's collection, just not the best children's book I've read.

This is a cute picture book about two cat cousins. One accidentally goes to Rome and the other searches for her cousin. They have adventures and return home, but Cleo isn't satisfied with her relaxing home life anymore and dreams of adventure. I enjoyed the story and young readers will too.

This was not as enjoyable as I had hoped. The illustrations, from what I could tell, were fun and bright. Unforuntanley, I was not able to read the book completely due to some formatting issues.

I read this book (well, the pdf version) to my kids, and they really enjoyed it. The storyline appealed to my younger child as well as my older two. The illustrations were wonderful and flowed nicely within the text. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this wonderful children's book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Getty Publications for letting me have a look at this one.

The beautiful illustrations and bright colours will be eye catching enough to keep a young child's (3-6) attention and the story itself will keep them entertained. It's supposed to be based on Town Mouse/Country Mouse but I didn't really see that at all.

The book is sprinkled with facts from Ancient Egypt and Rome so while arguably the book is a little thin on plot, there is ample opportunity for a bit of stealth learning. Very solid book.

Purrfect for little children who like cats.

Cleo and Cornelius: A Tale of Two Cities and Two Kitties is a picturebook by Elizabeth Nicholson, Janine Pibal, Nick Geller, and Michelle Thies. This book offers a twist on Aesop’s classic “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” fable featuring adventurous feline Cleo and couch potato Cornelius. The pair live in ancient Egypt, where cats are worshiped like gods and goddesses. When Cornelius accidentally boards a boat departing on a voyage across the sea, Cleo and Cornelius find themselves in the faraway city of Rome, a place where dogs are treated like kings. In Rome, the activities never end! Cleo and Cornelius race chariots, play games, perform in a theater, and more. Do they even want to return to Egypt?

Cleo and Cornelius: A Tale of Two Cities and Two Kitties is a well drawn and fun picturebook. I like the concept and the story. I like that while we get the different feline life styles, we also get some real information about living in ancient Egypt and Rome.There was some good humor, some adventure, and some information. It balanced well and worked. The images and text were paired well, and the images were adorable. However, I do need to admit that the digital copy I received via Netgalley had some formatting issues, which made it more challenging to follow and enjoy. I was able to figure it out, and enjoy it, but I think I would have enjoyed a physical or properly formatted version better.

Adorable illustrations that will be sure to attract and engage the attention of children. Delightful to the end.

Cuddly educational story
An entertaining book for children where the narrative flows warmly. The illustrations show some outstanding features of Rome and ancient Egypt in 31 BC, without saturating children with information and at the same time amusing through the eyes of cats.
My child has laughed a lot and his imagination was stimulated a lot, where Cleo swings in the curtains of her house to go back to the adventure.
A curious fact: there are records that indicate that cats began to live with humans about 3,500 years ago in ancient Egypt.
At the end this book has relevant cultural content for parents or teachers to enrich the children's educational experience, where some objects of the exhibition "Beyond the Nile: Egypt in the Classical World at the J. Paul Getty Musseum" are shown.

Cleo and Cornelius: A Tale of Two Itty Bitty Kitties from One City to Two.

There's No Place Like Home.
There's no Place like Rome.

The story begins by explaining the origins of Cleo and Cornelius. Both kittens were, I assume, the cats of Cleopatra and were treated with respect, dignity and otherworldly - in other words, congruent with the Egyptian view of cats.

One day, Cornelius accidentally finds himself on a journey when playing around in a barrel of fish. Sadly, his buddy Clio doesn't make it to him in time and remains in Egypt. And so Cornelius travels all the way to Rome.

And so Cornelius finds himself in a city where dogs instead of cats are treated like royalty, and he has a rather large culture shock.

Meanwhile, Clio is concerned about her cousin and grows tired of her luxurious life and finds a way to go to Cornelius - and it's rather amusing.

And so the two kitties are united in the markets of Rome. The cousins play palaestra, go to baths and ride chariots.

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this children's book. They were not only lush and colourful but lent themselves towards an air of nostalgia that brings you right back the ancient times of Egypt and Rome.

Although the story was quite sweet, nothing new stood out for me. However, the subtle way of teaching children about ancient life as well as including such immersive illustrations really does tend this book towards 4 stars. I also enjoyed the personalities of the two kitties and how they contrasted each other and how the book emphasises that differences in wanting adventure or comfort are both acceptable states of life. And sometimes, even a bittersweet separation from family so that we may find our own paths. All in all, this was a fantastic little book and I wish it were a bit longer as it could have contained so much tension, adventure and friendship.

Cleo and Cornelius is a charming picture book loosely following the fable City Mouse, Country Mouse. Kitten Cornelius craves adventure and sets off from his beloved castle in Ancient Egypt where cats are cherished to far off Rome, where dogs are cherished. His cousin Cleo is left behind and grows weary of having nothing to do so sets off to find Cornelius and have some adventure. Is it better to relax in luxury or have great adventures?

Cleo and Cornelius is a cute picture book that incorporates facts about ancient Egypt and Rome through the story, illustrations and additional facts at the end of the book. It would be a great addition to a school library and a great read aloud to supplement learning about ancient civilizations.