This book was probably printed in the late 1960s or early ’70s and probably took place at the same time. I remember it as one of those very inexpensive quarter of a normal sized books, with a dark olive background and a fluffy white bluish cat with a pink ribbon and candy behind it.
A little girl has just started a new school or just generally goes unnoticed. I think she is extremely shy and lacks self-confidence, and her family may also have less money that the other children. I’m not sure about that. Her school is having a cat show which seems unlikely, but that’s what I remember. The owner of a nearby candy store has a litter of kittens and all of the other children rush in and claim the beautiful and lively kittens. Our main character hangs back, but the kindly store owner gives her what is obviously the runt, a bedraggled white kitten to take home. I think the girl may have named it Peppermint.
Her mother comforts her and gives it bath and adds bluing to the water. The cat turns out to be a beautiful long-haired kitten and wins first prize.
I loved the picture of the light blue cat with the pink bow around it’s neck, especially since my grandmother told me about doing the same thing to her white poodle during the Depression. You took your fun wherever you could get it back then. I’ve despaired of ever finding a copy of this book because it was in such a “throw-away” format. Thanks in advance if you can help!
You are definitely looking for Peppermint, by Dorothy Grider (1950). This was a Whitman Tell-a-Tale Book that has been reprinted several times. There are several different covers. Some show the kitten sitting on a counter with jars of candy behind her.The wall behind the kitten is green in some printings, orange in others. Another version has a solid red cover with just the white kitten’s face. The red version is the original, and it is illustrated by Dorothy Grider. Grider’s illustrations were also used in the one with the green wall behind the candy counter, but the version with the orange wall was illustrated by Raymond Burns. Be sure to look at both versions, so you can find the illustrations you remember. (You are probably looking for Grider’s illustrations – the version with Burns’ illustrations is a later reprint and, in my opinion, not as cute as the original.)
All of the cats had candy-themed names, since they lived in Mr. Dobby’s Candy Store. The mother was named Candy, and the kittens were Lollipop, Chocolate Drop, Caramel, and of course, Peppermint. The other kittens are eagerly adopted by the children, but no one wants poor, scrawny Peppermint – until Barbara takes her home. Peppermint is accidentally dyed blue when she falls into a pan of bluing when Barbara’s mother gives her a bath, and she later wins a ribbon at the pet show.
Thank you for this! Yes, we had the red cover growing up. My sister called me recently and asked, “what was that book where the kitten fell into bluing?” I couldn’t remember but fell upon this site! Thank you!
This is “Peppermint” by Dorothy Grider- a Whitman Tell-a-Tale book.
Peppermint by Dorothy Grider?
“This is the beautiful story of a small kitten who is born in a candy store and needs a home. If you’ve read it, you may remember the image of a kitten who has been accidentally dyed blue. You may also remember how heartwarming it is when a sad little kitten and sad little girl find happiness together.”
Dorothy Grider: Peppermint.
This book, though not very well known, appears in a classic article about children’s literature:
Moss, Elaine, “The Peppermint Lesson,” inThe Cool Web: The Pattern of Children’s Reading, M. Meek et al., eds. London: Bodley Head, 1977, pp. 140–142.
I was just speaking to a neighbour about her cat “Peppermint” when this little book came to mind. I loved it as a child..over 50 years ago. I was glad to find reference to it on this site.
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Thank you so much for knowing this. What a gift to find the official title, author and year. It was my very first book when I was little back in 1970. Our house burned down in 1972 and I could never find that book again anywhere. Eventually I forgot the name but I remembered some key points of the story.
50 years later…I now know.
Thank you for remembering these types of treasures