I’d love it if you can find this book!
It’s a great story. A lady lives alone, doesn’t like to go out much and has a pet cat. Her brother is a traveler and has a great furry hat. He comes to visit his sister and when he leaves the cat masquerades himself as a hat so that he can have adventures and the lady is more than happy to have such a very mellow cat (the hat!)
Margaret Mahy, The Three-Legged Cat, illus. Jonathan Allen
This sounds like a great book and in a similiar spirit as the book that I’m looking for. But the book I’m looking for ends with the cat sitting on the the travelers head. I don’t recall any references to this cat having 3 legs. Anyone else have any ideas?
it is absolutely the 3-legged cat. I don’t remember that detail either, but the woman wishes she had a cat who didn’t cost so much to feed…and the travelling brother wears the cat on his bald head thinking it’s even warmer than his old hat. And the cat finally gets to see the ocean! Scholastic published an animated version of this and another Mahy story, Keeping House, in its DVD series of classic stories that have been animated over the years.