Colfax Mann and Rat The Cat are not affiliated with any particular sect, denomination, or political party.

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My Story:

Hey Now! I'm Colfax Mann, the creator behind Rat The Cat Reading Accelerator and other fun books.

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Rat The Cat is forty FUN stories using progressive phonics, not to teach a bunch of rules, but as a sensible method for introducing new letter combinations to new readers. Rat The Cat kind of picks up where Sesame Street leaves off. Rat and Dan have adventure after adventure. You can visit the ABOUT RAT THE CAT page and see all the fun stories. All forty stories are available as reflowing Kindle Ebooks, as paperback books, and also as FREE Black and White PDF printable pages. Many PDF readers' "Read Aloud" Function will work with these pages. In addition, Block 1 is available as a Coloring Book and as Free Printable PDF Coloring Pages. I also have the first Rat The Cat chapter book written, "Rat The Cat and the Space Dogs From Planet X-K9," but need to scan it in and edit it. It's fun. In addition, I have fun picture books and exciting bedtime books, all written with both the child AND the adult reader in mind. 

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I'm a dad. I created Rat The Cat in the late 90's to help our daughter with her reading, and ended up making 10 booklets for all the students in her first-grade class. When she was in second grade I went to her school to eat lunch with her, and as I and her class marched single-file to the lunchroom, we passed another class of second-graders returning from eating. Some of the kids in that class had been in our daughter's first-grade class, and called out to me, "Hey Mr. C... When you gonna make us some more Rat The Cat books?!!" As a frustrated writer who couldn't even get anyone to read my work, much less publish it, I figured, "Hey, this is the only thing I'm creating that customers are asking me for..." I knew I had something good on my hands.

 

So the wife and I bought a bookletmaker, I wrote all forty stories, made a website and store (it was much harder back then), and we set about making booklets. Problem was, at the time CD-Roms were the technology of the day, and our technology was DECADES behind. I thought my stories were FAR better, and the kids seemed to think so too, but a new digital age was dawning and I couldn't afford to take part monetarily or skill-wise. I realized I'd have to wait until a working stiff like me had access to cheap technology, and give it a go then. Maybe I was right, or maybe I just gave up. Not sure yet.

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I had already stopped submitting books, instead sticking my work inside fireproof safes, so I figured "someday" I'd have a lot to go out to the world with—my books AND Rat The Cat. So I focused on being a good daddy and raising a good kid. Checked that box. She's a fine young human and we gained another super kid in her spouse. We have a great relationship today.