Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
T. S. Eliot
Harcourt Brace and Company
Fiction, Poetry
*****
DESCRIPTION: Originally published in 1939, these verses are the basis of the long-running musical Cats. The poems included are about a number of cats doing a number of things, plus such important lessons as how to address a cat and the three names of our feline friends. This edition includes illustrations by Edward Gorey.
REVIEW: This book is a classic among feline fanciers, with good reason. Felinekind is celebrated in lively verse. Gorey's illustrations are charming, a perfect complement to the poetry. If you love cats and have never read this book, you owe it to yourself to track down a copy. Trust me, it's worth the effort!
You might also enjoy:
Heart of a Tiger (Marsha Diane Arnold, YA Picture Book - A shy gray kitten wants a tiger's name on Naming Day)
Catkin (Antonia Barber, YA Picture Book - A tiny cat enters a fairy mound to retrieve a stolen child)
Comet's Nine Lives (Jan Brett, YA Picture Book - A cat looks for a home before his nine lives run out)
Why Cats Paint (Heather Busch and Burton Silver, Fiction - A deadpan parody of the art world explains feline aesthetic movements)
The Folktale Cat (Frank de Caro, editor, Nonfiction - Cat folktales and legends from around the world)
The Devious Book for Cats (Fluffy & Bonkers, Fiction - A parody guidebook for the domestic cat)
Warriors: Into the Wild (Erin Hunter, YA Fiction - A cat abandons his safe, indoor-pet life to live with a clan of ferals)
The Wild Road (Gabriel King, Fiction - A housecat is called to defend the King and Queen of Cats from an ancient evil)
Jack Prelutsky's poetry books (Jack Prelutsky, YA Poetry - Whimsical poems about all manner of fantastic subjects)
The Enchanted Cat (John Richard Stephens, Nonfiction - Historical and classical mentions of cats)
The Cat Manual (Michael Ray Taylor, Fiction - A rare translation of the secret manual all cats receive on entering adulthood)
Tailchaser's Song (Tad Williams, Fiction - A young tomcat seeks his missing friend across the known cat-world)
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