Fiction Dealing with Cats

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See also:
Cats: General
Cats: Single breeds
Cats: Behaviour
Cats: Health and nutrition
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Simon's Cat [Hardcover]

Simon Tofield
Canongate Books Ltd (1 Oct 2009)
ISBN-10: 184767481X
ISBN-13: 978-1847674814

Simon's Cat became very popular on Youtube, as a comic reflection of what cats like to do, and how they get their own way. This book would make a good present for anyone who loves cats. It's also a nice book to have to cheer you up at moments when you take life and the universe too seriously. Great fun, and highly recommended.

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Kaspar: Prince of Cats [Paperback]

Michael Morpurgo
HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks (7 Jan 2010)
ISBN-10: 0007267002
ISBN-13: 978-0007267002

Michael Morpurgo is a former Children's Laureate, and a winner of several awards, including the Whitbread Award. He is one of those rare authors who can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. Kaspar is one of his stories featuring cats (others include The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, below). Kaspar arrived at the Savoy Hotel in a basket, that start of a journey that takes Kaspar all around the world. The story is well-researched, and Kaspar's adventures are gripping.  The book works on so many levels, writing style, humour, pathos, that it is difficult to put down, even when you are a grown-up. You can buy it for a child (it's probably best enjoyed from around the age of eight), but make sure you get to read it too!

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The Nine Lives of Montezuma

Michael Morpurgo
Egmont Books Ltd (6 Aug 2007)
ISBN-10: 9781405233385
ISBN-13: 978-1405233385
ASIN: 1405233389

Another cat adventure story from Michael Morpugo, which is both deftly told, and moving.  This is the story of Montezuma, a farm cat who aspires to and achieves great power. He has many adventures, both sad and funny. Montezuma starts out as a tough ginger kitten, and friend of Matthew. As he grows up, and grows in cunning and guile, he stays friends with Matthew. This is a story to read to children, to encourage children to read, and because it is so well written, it is great fun for adults to read as well.

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The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips 

Michael Morpurgo
HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks (6 Feb 2006) 
ISBN-10: 0007182465
ISBN-13: 978-0007182466

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips is a very moving story with a happy ending. It is set in the South Coast at the start of 1944 when villages were evacuated because American troops wanted space to practise for the D-Day.

The heroine is twelve-year-old Lily Tregenze. Her world changes when she has to move off the farm where she lives, because the Americans are coming. Tips the cat disappears, so much of the book is the search for Tips. Like all Michael Morpurgo's books, this is a moving, gripping story, and is well researched. It's also a 'feel-good' book for adults, highly recommended.

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Mog the Forgetful Cat

Judith Kerr
HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks
ISBN-10: 000717134X
ISBN-13: 978-0007171347

This is a classic children's story for younger children. It is fun to read as a bedtime tale, with participation from your small audience. My nephew loves it, and finds it very funny. Despite, or rather because of Mog's memory problems, a burglar is caught. Things turn out all right at the end, even for the burglar, who enjoys a cup of tea. The illustrations are nostalgic, and bring the book to life. If you are looking for civilised children's bedtime reading, this is a lovely book to share with small children.

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Cat Haiku [Paperback]

Deborah Coates
Publisher: Arrow (2 Oct 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0099463288
ISBN-13: 978-0099463283

A very funny and cleverly written collection of haiku poems about cats, written with the assistance of the author's two cats, Pippin and Pinch. Deborah Coates speaks with the voices of cats. Cat lovers will look at their own felines in recognition, and have a clearer understanding of just what they are thinking, and saying to their humans.

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The Unadulterated Cat [Hardcover]

Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Orion; New Ed edition (26 Sep 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 9780752853697
ISBN-13: 978-0752853697
ASIN: 0752853694

Fans of Terry Pratchett will have met his talking dog, werewolf, and orang utang university librarian. In this book he delights cat lovers with a collection of anecdotes and explanations of cat lore, which are funny enough to make readers chuckle even if they aren't crazy about cats. It's a bit short, though, and leaves you wanting more, please, as well as a hope that cats emerge with bigger roles in his Discworld novels.

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The Greatest Cat Stories Ever Told

Charles Elliott (ed)
Lyons Press
ISBN: 1585743658

This is a collection of fine writing about cats from a number of well-known authors, including Mark Twain, Desmond Morris, H.P. Lovecraft, Emile Zola, Ernest Hemingway, Doris Lessing and James Herriott. A book for people who love well-crafted writing and reading about cats. There are thirty stories in this book, enough to keep you going for several bedtimes!

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The Cat Who Played Post Office

Lilian Jackson Braun
Headline
ISBN 0747250375

The Cat Who Knew A Cardinal

Lilian Jackson Braun
Headline
ISBN 0747237883

The Cat Who Saw Stars

Lilian Jackson Braun
Headline
ISBN 0747253935

Three of the best from prolific American whodunnit writer, Lilian Jackson Braun. The stories feature Jim Qwilleran, a journalist, and cats, such as Koko the Siamese. These are enjoyable adventures which have great appeal to cat lovers, and are gripping enough to appeal to whodunnit lovers who aren't cat mad. While these aren't 'deep' novels, they do tell us a lot about how certain people live in America, and they are good books to relax with.

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Pawing Through the Past

Rita Mae Brown
Bantam Books
ISBN 0553580256

A hugely enjoyable mystery tale from Rita Mae Brown, whose Mrs Murphy novels are particularly appealing for cat lovers. She is a skilled writer, and has tackled a number of themes in her novels. In this story, several former classmates at a school reunion are murdered. With the help of a cat, secrets are uncovered, past lives are revealed, and mysteries are solved. This novel is her best so far, and is a good starting point for exploring Rita Mae Brown's world.

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Enough To Make A Cat Laugh [Paperback]

Deric Longden
Publisher: Corgi; New edition edition (8 May 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0552156205
ISBN-13: 978-0552156202

Deric Longden is well known to readers of 'Your Cat' magazine. He lives with four cats which have different personalities, but which share a common desire to have him attend to their whims. Also resident in the house is Aileen Armitage, a blind novelist. This is a delightful and amusing account of the lives of the six residents of the Longden abode.

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Bad, Bad Cats

Roger McGough, Illustrated by Lydia Monks
Puffin
ISBN 0140383913

This is meant to be a book of poetry for children, but it is too good to allow the kids to hog it. Adults are also able to read the poems on a different level, and understand more of the cultural references. Younger children will enjoy having the poems read to them as a night-time treat, while older children and adults will enjoy reading them for themselves. Boys will like the gangster cats, which will make the girls laugh.

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Temple Cat

Andrew Clements, illustrated by Kate Kiesler
Clarion Books
ISBN 0618111395

This is a beautifully illustrated morality tale about the emptiness of life with material wealth and formal power that is devoid of real affection. It's aimed at children from between four and eight-years-old, who tend to focus more on the adventures of this Ancient Egyptian temple cat thanon the moral message. She leaves her life in high society and goes travelling, and eventually finds the place where her heart is at ease in the house of a fisherman and his family.

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