Category Archives: Cats

292V: Cats in the city

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I read this children’s book in the 1950’s so it’s publishing date was long ago. The story involves a group of cats in a city. The illustrations that I remember were of apartment buildings with fire escapes. One of the cats is the hero, defending the other cats. He has a swashbuckling persona complete with sword and boots. This is the part of the story that is most memorable- this dashing and sword fighting cat. The title escapes me; in fact,there is nothing else I can tell you. But, I would appreciate whatever you can find. Good luck and thank you in advance.

 

289K: Pandora the cat

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Children’s book I read kindergarten, class 1971. I don’t not know title but I think the main characters name is pandora a cat. It is possible name is in title. My memory pictures a grey and yellow cover w cat and it’s magic collar. It tells the story of a cats nine lives which is actually 9 times to teleport. That way cats are suddenly in the room. I believe the collar was the way “pandora” traveled. When I was an older grade schooler I went back to class room to find it, that’s where my visual memories come from and cats name, but the storyline memory seems solid since that’s how I found it the first time.

288E: Ragamuffins and a talking cat (Solved)

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I remember my mother reading aloud to us a chapter book (in the early 1960s) about a group of children called Ragamuffins (maybe just four children). They meet a talking cat named Pouffon (that is how she pronounced the name; I don’t know how it is spelled). Each time the cat speaks though, it loses one of it’s special whiskers, or it’s whiskers changes back to a normal color. It was very sad when the cat spoke for the last time, to help the children, since the cat only had one special whisker left. I think the book is probably a literary award winning book, since my mother made sure we read all of the Newberry and Caldecott Award winning books. I hope it is still in print. I think the book had a navy blue cover, (hardback), and maybe a line drawing at the start of each chapter. It may have been published much earlier than the 60s. It was probably a library book, and was pretty well-worn then.

 

Thank you so much for your help!

285D: Boy and cat are best friends

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I am looking for a children’s book from around 1980.

I do not recall the title or author, and the book may have been published before 1980.  Let’s say anywhere between 1970 and 1982 or so.  This was a favorite book of mine when I was a kid, and I used to take it out of my local branch of the St. Louis Public Library pretty regularly.

The one thing I DO remember were the fantastic illustrations.  It was done in black and white, and the drawings looked as though they may have been pen and ink, or etchings, and they were very realistic.

Thematically, I remember a couple things about the story:  A boy and his cat used to sit on a hill under their (or maybe the cat’s) favorite tree.  At night, the cat would go have adventures on his own with his cat friends.  Toward the end of the story, the cat died, and the boy and his mom decided to bury him atop the hill under the beloved tree.  Then the boy would go there to remember the cat.

Specifically, I recall one page in the book that illustrated night time, when the cat would go with his cat friends.  There is a house (presumably the cat’s) in the background, as though he has just been let out for the evening.  In the foreground, you see the cat joining up with many, many neighborhood cats as they set off to roam around–a virtual cat army.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

224G: MAX a chubby cat

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My wife’s father read this book with her when she was little, so it must have been published before 1964. Here is what she could recall when I asked her for more details:

“The book title was MAX. But anyways there are no photos of the book covers here so hard to say. This book is an over sized hard cover book (like the I Spy kids books). I remember the cover being yellow and turquoise – the illustrations are hand drawn (the cat is black line drawn) – he is a chubby cat. In one sequence he grabs the hair dryer and is looking at it inquisitively – it turns on accidentally and it blows his hair every which way as he tries to figure out how to turn it off.”