Cat on the Hill |
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Michael Foreman
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Pages: 32 (Paperback)
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
ISBN: 1842704710
Pub: Andersen Press Ltd
Pub date: 2005-10-06
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1822
Reader Reviews:
Lovely moving story to read to little ones (0/0 people found this helpful)
My little girl (age 4) loves cats and we borrowed this book from the library and fell in love with it. Really moving story about a stray cat throughout the seasons in a seaside town. Lovely christmassy ending. Brings tears to my eyes(happy ones). Was a bit shocked at use of word "damned" though. (Cat calls a dog "that damned dog").You could always edit that when reading aloud though!
Crystalline Watercolours, interesting story... (2/2 people found this helpful)
A lovely story with exquisite water colour illustrations of life in the simple town of St Ives, and the life of one small cat who is alone in the world.
Enjoying the summer, the old sailing cat now lives in the curch on the hill. Through Autumn as it gets cooler, the cat goes down to the village and a friendly child gives him fish, from the day's catch. The cat sees a donkey and a horse playing in a field and envies them their friendship, whilst being irritated at the dog which is always racing past, barking.
In Winter he gets increasingly desperate, with no food, and no shelter, and the illustrations show the town lit up with christmas lights and revelry.
Venturing into town he is shunned, chased and eventually scared back off to his hill as the snow falls wistfully down on the door stoops, decorated with holly wreathes and santa slinks behind the fish traps.
Like the good king Wencelaus through the snow arrive the donkey, mule, dog and boy, laden with gifts for the cat, and they set up a little tent which looks like a manger in the middle of the snow, the cat in the boys lap and all the segulls, mice and rabbits circled around. It looks just like a nativity scene, which is quite amusing.
The last page:
"Bells ding-dong across the bay, and the sea turns silver in the moonlight. My friends and I sit warm on our hill between
all the stars of Heaven and Earth."
I liked the cat's ornery perspective & simple direct relating of events & emotions.
The cat uses "damned", which is something to consider for your children.
Deeply impressed with the quality of the watercolour paintings, they're extremely good, and portray a wonderful feeling of all the seasons, and I loved the crabby cat, who has a happy ending.
Kotori 28'Nov, 2004
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Education -> Baby & Toddler -> Picture Books
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Education -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> Young Adult -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin) -> Ages 0-2
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin) -> Ages 3-4
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin) -> Ages 5-8
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)