Chester had Gender Issues
This is a cute book that features a battle of wills between a children's book illustrator and her cat. The pictures are great, especially after Chester 'improves' them to feature himself. The only problem I had was with the book was how Chester was drawn, as a calico with more than three colors in his coat.

Cats with more than three colors in their coat are almost always female - the multiple colors thing is a sex linked trait.

Personally, I wasn't surprised when Melanie drew Chester in a pink tutu to get even with him. I suspect Chester might have even enjoyed it.

This book is great but I hope the gender issues don't offend young children or rather, their uptight parents.

Chester
The book was fun and my granddaughters enjoyed it but it needed more story. The message was not clear and got lost in the pictures and all the red marks. But it gave us lots of laughs.
MimiS

Don't skip the dust cover
My kids laugh out loud at this book. They have me read every single one of Chester's red pen scribbles, on every single page, including the copyright page ... even including the dust cover flaps! Very clever all the way through.

Great premise falls short-still a hit
My husband heard a review of this book on NPR and inspired our purchase. The premise of Chester editing the story as it's getting told, is a fantastic one and Chester clearly has the personality to pull it off. What would make it great is if there was actually a story for him to edit. The story never gets off the ground and it seems Chester would have even more material to show off his Chester-ness if there was something more to work with. Both my husband and I thought it was a "non-story". However, my 6-year-old thought Chester was a hoot and didn't seem to mind the lack of plot.

Hobo thinks Chester ROCKS! (and we love it, too!)
We are a couple owned by a cat, as anyone who knows cats understands. We also own a bookstore. But enough about us, Hobo says. Here's Hobo's take on "Chester":

Hobo: Chester is a way cool cat. Take it from this famous and handsome cat, I recognize Chester's prowess as a fellow writer. Way to go, Chester, keeping Melanie in line, and telling that silly mouse who's boss. Don't get me wrong, I love Melanie's drawings, just like I love Susan Gage's drawings in my book, but I really appreciate all your footnotes and corrections. I give you two thumbs up (I really do have thumbs!)

People owned by Hobo, bookstore folks: people love this book. I just had someone buy this out of the store this morning, at full price, which is saying a lot, because hardcover books are getting soooooo expensive at full retail price. But these parents didn't even bat an eyelash, because their daughter was obviously entranced and highly amused by Chester.

We have Chester on display in our store right by "Hobo Finds A Home", "A Home for Dixie", "Chosen By A Horse", "Rescuing Sprite", Kitten's First Full Moon, and "The Art of Racing in the Rain".