Purr-fect Books for Friends of Feilines
By Sheila Welch
On cold winter evenings, curl up with your children and a favorite feline while sharing some of these wonderful cat stories.
If your children are just learning to read, here’s a book you don’t want them to miss. THE CAT IN THE HAT was published in 1957, written and illustrated by the famous Dr. Seuss, who manages to tell an exciting story with a very limited vocabulary. THE CAT IN THE HAT is about the best kind of trouble-maker: one who makes sure he cleans up the messes he makes.
MILLIONS OF CATS, which won a Newbery Honor, is another classic cat story, first published in 1928, written and illustrated in black and white by Wanda Gag. A very old man goes in search of a cat for a very old woman who is his wife. While very young children may not appreciate the lessons about greed, resource depletion, and vanity, they will love the repetition and the ultimately happy ending.
THE CHRISTMAS CAT by Efner Tudor Holmes and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, is a sweet story of a stray tabby cat who’s trying to survive in the wintery forest. While giving food to the wild creatures, a kind, Santa-like man discovers the poor cat. The next morning, Christmas Day, two little boys who live on a nearby farm are thrilled to find a purring cat has joined their loving family.
Anytime you want an entertaining story to read aloud, you can count on author/illustrator Bill Peet to deliver. In JENNIFER AND JOSEPHINE he creates a friendship of sorts between an old car and a cat. This unlikely pair will keep you and your children turning the pages until the very satisfying ending. Longer than most picture books, this one will enchant children in kindergarten through fifth grade.
SOCKS is not as well-known as Beverly Cleary’s many other wonderful books for ages eight to twelve, but it’s the only one to have a cat featured as the main character. Socks is a gray tabby with white paws who feels very special until his world is turned upside down by the arrival of a tiny baby. Suddenly Socks is no longer the center of attention, and many young readers will feel empathy for the little feline. Countless children have had to deal with a similar situation and will delight in reading how Socks handles this problem.
Sheila Kelly Welch is a mother, grandmother and retired teacher. She’s been writing all her life and counts among her children’s fiction books Little Prince Know-It-All and A Horse for All Seasons. Sheila's most recent book, WAITING TO FORGET, published by namelos, has been selected by Bank Street College and Pennsylvania School Library Association for their lists of best-books-of-the-year.
You can learn more about Sheila on her web site.
