Cheetah Can't Lose

Very cute book. I am a assistant teacher and love children's books and cheetahs, so that is why I got this book. It is a very cute story. I don't care for the ending when they say the cheetah wins when it is obvious he has lost, but other than that I love the idea of it. It reminds me of the tortoise and the hare story.

My kid has loved this book for months, and I do too.There's the cheetah, see, and he thinks he's going to win the big race like he does every year. But the two small cats outsmart him by having a series of smaller events before the race so that "everyone can win." Cheetah won't go along with that. Cheetah _can't_ lose! But the catch is that every event has a prize, and every prize slows cheetah down. By the time the big race happens, Cheetah is wearing cardboard boxes on his feet, stuffed full of pie and ice cream, carrying a bunch of balloons, and wearing an oversized crown that covers his eyes.My kid and I love this book because it mixes so many kinds of humor to appeal to kids at different stages. At first, he loved how the cheetah was dressed sillier and sillier as the book went on, and how funny the cheetah looked trying to win the race in his full regalia. Then, he started to love the cheetah's foolishness in the moment when he decides to eat his winner's sundae simply because he can't bear to let anybody else win it. And in the last month, he's started to realize that the story is one of the most universal themes in comedy: a not-too-bright meanie who thinks he's the smartest turns out to be not so smart after all. And now, only this last week, has my son started to realize the key plot element: the two small cats have an ulterior motive for awarding all these prizes.This is a deceptively simple book with (did I mention) lovely illustrations and a really well constructed grasp of kids' comedy. I can't wait till our copy of Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great comes in.

I don't know about this book. The story is basically if you can't win - deceive your enemy and then feel bad about it and let them win anyway. There's something about the conversational writing style that's hard to follow. We read it once and my kids have never pulled from their bookshelf again - and they LOVE cheetahs.

Bob Shea tells a great story that everyone can relate to... winning vs. losing. The ignorance and pride of the cheetah is hilarious and endearing. And (spoiler alert) the ending is equally lovely as the little cats choose to not humiliate cheetah completely at the end of the race. Shea knows how to write for kids and, perhaps more importantly, for parents who are tired of reading sappy fairy books to their kids at bedtime. The illustrations are clever as always. He manages to use a minimum amount of shapes and colors convey big feelings, like guilt and perseverance.

Both my 5 yr. old daughter and 6 yr. old son love this book. My son actually borrowed this from school last year when he was in kindergarten. I bought it when I found it here online.

This book focuses on a cheetah who likes to win and two little kittens who want to teach him q lesson. So they leave out food until he's too fat and slow to win?! Messed up messaging.

The beauty of Bob Shea's books is there is just as much humor for the adult to appreciate as there is for the children. ;D

Kids loved it!