I wrote My Cat is Fat when my niece was learning how to read.  I wanted her to have a fun book that utilized the short ‘a’ sound that would help her build confidence.  When I was teaching kindergarten, I noticed my students loved reading repetitive phrases.  Their little fingers moved along the page faster, their smiles grew bigger, and their eyes were a little bit brighter when they reached a sentence or phrase that they could read with pride.  My niece, nephew, and friends’ kids have reinforced my belief that little hearts love repetition.  Reading it aloud to my high school seniors has reinforced that teenagers love predictable outcomes.