It’s not every day that a picture book is written about a Pope, especially from the point of view of a cat. Joseph and Chico is the delightful story of Pope Benedict XVI’s life as told from the viewpoint of Chico, a cat who lives at his residence in Bavaria. With a lively conversational tone, he relates the life of Pope Benedict XVI, beginning with his birth and touching on the important events in his life. While the story is longer and more complex than an ordinary children's picture book, the author’s gift for storytelling and humorous comments kept my two daughters’ attention the whole way through. The illustrations are not spectacular, but they do offer a nice, bright, colorful complement to the text. With gentle humor and lively prose, Joseph and Chico, The Life of Pope Benedict XVI as Told by a Cat makes a fun and interesting read.