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Cats: History, Science, and Story

CATS AND PEOPLE

 Eileen Spinelli’s Do You Have a Cat? (Eerdmans, 2010) is a rhyming picture-book survey of famous historical figures and their cats, from Cleopatra to Queen Victoria, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Calvin Coolidge, and Albert Schweitzer. For ages 4-7.
Visit A Few Famous Cat Lovers for a long alphabetical annotated list. Among the featured cat lovers: Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Lindbergh, and Sir Isaac Newton (who invented the cat flap).

Gourmet chef Julia Child had a cat. Susanna Reich’s Minette’s Feast (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2012) tells Julia’s story through the eyes of her little French cat, Minette, who – though she loves the delicious smells and wonderful recipes emanating from Julia’s kitchen – much prefers raw mouse. The text is sprinkled with Child quotes and the end notes include a photograph of Julia with Minette. For ages 4-8.
Marcia Brown’s Dick Whittington and His Cat (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1988) is the picture-book story of the homeless orphan who – with the help of his extraordinary cat – became Lord Mayor of London. (Three times.) For ages 5-9.
For more information on Dick Whittington, including the myth, the real story, and historical images, visit Purr ‘n’ Fur Fabled Felines.

In Alan Armstrong’s Whittington (Yearling, 2006), a Newbery Honor book, Whittington (a.k.a. Bent Ear) is a battered tomcat who, evicted by his owners, comes to live in the barn at Bernie’s farm. There he tells the story of his illustrious ancestor, Dick Whittington’s famous cat, to an assembly that includes other adopted animals and Bernie’s orphaned grandchildren, Abby and Ben. For ages 9-12.

In Kirby Larson’s Two Bobbies (Walker Children’s Books, 2008), the two are Bobbi, a dog, and Bob, a cat, both abandoned in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The two survived together for four months before animal rescuers took them to a shelter, where Bob the cat was found to be blind. The two friends were eventually adopted (together) into a happy home. A wonderful tale of friendship and a nice plug for animal shelters. Pair this one with a field trip. For ages 5-8.

Marilyn Singer’s Cats to the Rescue (Henry Holt and Company, 2006) is a collection of stories about heroic, helpful, and inspirational cats, with catchy notes on cat history and behavior. Featured cats include Dick Whittington’s cat; Scarlett, the cat who saved her kittens from a Brooklyn fire; Paisley, elected as mayor of Guffey, Colorado; and Simon, who received a war medal from the British Navy. For ages 8-12.

In Jean Craighead George’s The Cats of Roxville Station (Puffin, 2010), Rachet, an abused orange kitten, is tossed off a bridge and left to drown by a lady in a fur coat. Rachet survives, and gradually is accepted by the feral cats who live around the Roxville train station as she learns to cope with other wild animals and survive in the outdoors. She’s also befriended by Mike, a boy who lives with his foster mother (who hates cats). Mike and Rachet form a bond – they’re both, Mike says, survivors. The story integrates and explains real behaviors of cats, which adds to the interest. For ages 9-12.
Also see The Cats of Roxville Station Discussion Guide.
In Paula Fox’s complex and compelling One-Eyed Cat (Aladdin, 2000), set in the 1930s, eleven-year-old Ned Wallis shoots a forbidden gun at a moving shadow. Later, when a wounded one-eyed feral cat shows up, Ned is convinced that this is his doing. Food for discussion for ages 10 and up.

CATS AT SEA

 In Sue Stainton’s The Lighthouse Cat (Katherine Tegen Books, 2004), a lonely lighthouse keeper, whose task is to keep the lights burning in the lighthouse’s 24-candle lantern, adopts a stray cat named Mackerel. When a gale blows the candles out and a fishing boat is lost at sea, Mackerel summons eleven cats from the village and together their glowing eyes light the boat safely home. For ages 4-7.
Why do cats’ eyes shine in the dark? Find out here, with an accompanying experiment.

In Antonia Barber’s beautifully illustrated The Mousehole Cat (Walker Books, 1993), the great Storm-Cat, howling outside the little village of Mousehole, has trapped the fishing fleet in the harbor and food is running low. Finally old Tom heads out to fish in the teeth of the storm, so that the children of the village will not go hungry on Christmas Day – and his cat Mowzer goes along to protect Tom (her pet) from the fearsome Storm-Cat. Mowzer’s purring soothes the storm; and Tom comes safely home with enough fish for a holiday feast. For ages 5-8.

Marty Crisp’s Titanicat (Sleeping Bear Press, 2011) is the story of young Jim Mulholland, cabin boy on the Titanic, charged with caring for the ship’s cat and her new family of kittens. When the cat leaves the ship, taking her kittens with her, she leaves one behind. Jim, worried, takes the abandoned kitten ashore to find its family, and in doing so misses the ship’s sailing. He’s devastated – until, a few days later, he learns how lucky he was. Based on a true story. For ages 5-8.

In Michael Morpurgo’s Kaspar the Titanic Cat (HarperCollins, 2012), the elegant Kaspar is the former cat of opera singer Countess Kandinsky, adopted by Johnny Trott, a bellboy at the Savoy Hotel, after the Countess is killed by a bus. Kaspar and Johnny become friends with eight-year-old Lizziebeth, daughter of rich American parents staying at the hotel, and they follow along when Lizziebeth and family board the Titanic and sail with her as stowaways. Then the unsinkable ship hits an iceberg. For ages 9-12.
In the spirit of Ben and Me and Mr. Revere and I, Robert Lawson’s Captain Kidd’s Cat (Little, Brown, 1984) is the  story of the famous pirate William Kidd as told by his ship’s cat, McDermot, who, in true pirate fashion, wears a ruby earring in one ear.  This is out of print; check used-book suppliers and public libraries. For ages 8-12.
Caroline Alexander’s Mrs. Chippy’s Last Expedition (Harper Perennial, 1999) is the story of Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition as recounted in the diary of the (very articulate) ship’s cat. For teenagers and adults.
For biographies of famous (real) ship’s cats, see The Cats Who Sailed on Ships.
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