Book Cats

“The name that no human research can discover-- 

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. 

When you notice a cat in profound meditation, 

The reason, I tell you, is always the same: 

His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation 

Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: 

His ineffable effable 

Effanineffable 

Deep and inscrutable singular Name.” 

 ― T.S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Some Popular Book Cats...

Go here for my past post about T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.  (Edward Gorey's illustrations are amazing!)

You can read my review of The Cat at Night by Dahlov Ipcar here.

Who wouldn't be smitten with The Tale of Tom Kitten by Beatrix Potter?

Or the story of Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag?

Paul Galdone's telling and illustrations of the Three Little Kittens nursery rhyme is adorable.

My grandson's choice would be Pete the Cat - all the stories are rollicking good fun - from Eric Litwin - with illustrations by James Dean.

And don't forget this guy...

Last, but certainly not least, I can't leave out Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat...

Update, November 3, 2015:  Hat tip to my blogger friend, artist and author Valerie Greeley (you'll find her over at Acornmoon) for a wonderful addition to this list, The Molehouse Cat.  I had never heard of this lovely cat story, but found an amazing Youtube video of the book that I've embedded below.  Enjoy!!!!!

CELEBRATING "GROUNDHOG DAY" WITH SOME FAMOUS HEDGEHOGS...

If you read my February 2nd post last year, you may remember that hedgehogs have everything to do with what we Americans call "Groundhog Day" and the simultaneously occurring Christian celebration of "Candlemas" (last year's post is HERE).

Paper sculpture by Canadian artist, Calvin Nicholls [photo source here]

This year, I thought it would be fun to remind you of some famous literary hedgehogs.  As you will see, they show up quite often in British children's literature...

Hedgehogs were an intricate part of Alice's game of croquet:
"Get to your places!" shouted the Queen in a voice of thunder... and the game began. Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-ground in her life; it was all ridges and furrows; the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes, and the soldiers had to double themselves up and to stand on their hands and feet, to make the arches.

illustration by Sir John Tenniel
from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it would twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.


American author/artist Jan Brett's Picture Books: 
Have you noticed who's wearing The Hat?  Hedgie also shows up in Jan's books The Mitten, and Hedgie's Surprise.  Her website has some easy instructions on "How to Draw a Hedgehog".

Hedgehogs often show up in the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques:
These prickly beasts come from all walks of life, from warriors to cooks to riverbeasts. They are typically easy-going and friendly, though a few have been known to become eccentric or insane in old age. Many Hedgehogs come from a clan or tribe, such as the Dillypins or Waterhogs, and it is traditional (though not exclusive) for the cellarkeeper of Redwall Abbey to be a hedgehog. [source: Redwall Wiki]

Note: British author Brian Jacques died last year on February 5th.  His wonderful series was a family favorite.  To read my short tribute, click here.

Hedgehogs can do laundry. 
Well, at least Beatrix Potter's "Mrs. Tiggywinkle" could.  (She is probably my favorite hedgehog.)

Water Color Artist, Valerie Greeley...
I'll leave you with this cute little hedgehog, by Valerie Greeley. You can buy the print here from her Etsy shop, Acornmoon. The print is a reproduction of a water color illustration from her children's book, Down the Lane.  Another picture book by Valerie featuring hedgehogs is Field Animals.  (Both books - though currently out of print - are available on Amazon.)

Hedgehog, by Valerie Greeley

NO MORE TWIST!

THE TAILOR OF GLOUCESTER by Beatrix Potter is about a tailor whose work on a waistcoat is finished by the grateful mice he rescues from his cat, Simpkin.  It was based on a real world incident involving a tailor - John Pritchard, from Gloucester - who was commissioned to make a suit for the new mayor.  The tailor  returned to his shop on a Monday morning to find the suit completed except for one buttonhole. A note attached read, "No more twist". His assistants had finished the coat in the night, but Pritchard encouraged a fictitious explanation that fairies had done the work and the incident became a local legend.

"A mouse threads a needle with cherry coloured twist."

"No more twist."

Beatrix Potter set her tale in the 18th Century. She made an extraordinary effort to create the setting as authentic as possible. Passing a tailor’s shop in Chelsea one day, she deliberately tore a button off her coat and took it in to be mended so she could observe first hand the tailor’s posture, tools and workbench.  She went to the same great lengths in seeking inspiration for the Mayor of Gloucester's 18th Century embroidered waistcoat when she visited the costume collection owned by the local museum in South Kensington, the "Victoria and Albert Museum".

Cream satin waistcoat embroidered with
coloured silk, Gloucester, England, UK, 1770.
Museum no. 652A-1898

She wrote to her publisher, Norman Warne:
I have been delighted to find I may draw some most beautiful 18th century clothes at the South Kensington Museum. I had been looking at them for a long time in an inconvenient dark corner of the Goldsmith’s Court, but had no idea they could be taken out of the case. The clerk says I could have any article put on a table in one of the offices, which will be most convenient.
(Her sketches are so accurate that it is possible to identify the original garments, including the mayor’s waistcoat, "worked with poppies and corn-flowers", which can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum's costume collections to this day!)

Beatrix's sketch of the waistcoat.

In May 1903, Beatrix made many sketches of the town of Gloucester.  The street scenes in her story, particularly that of the tailor’s shop in College Court, depict actual places in the city.

Miss Potter gave a copy of the book to her Chelsea tailor who, in turn, displayed it to a representative of the trade journal, The Tailor & Cutter. The journal's review appeared on Christmas Eve 1903:

...we think it is by far the prettiest story connected with tailoring we have ever read, and as it is full of that spirit of Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, we are not ashamed to confess that it brought the moisture to our eyes, as well as the smile to our face. It is got up in choicest style and illustrated by twenty-seven of the prettiest pictures it is possible to imagine.
(Source: Victoria and Albert Museum website. Visit their Beatrix Potter Page!)

PETER RABBIT AND SUPER BOWL SUNDAY...(Yes, you read my title correctly!)

The World of Peter Rabbit

As a follow-up to my last post about the YEAR OF THE RABBIT, I've decided not only to devote a whole entry to Peter, by far the most Popular Rabbit, but to also mention an NFL player who is said to be "quicker than a Jack Rabbit".


A couple of nights ago, I had fun perusing a wonderful website and resource - THE WORLD OF PETER RABBIT -  all about Peter Rabbit and his talented creator. Under the "WHAT'S NEW" tab, I discovered that this Sunday, February 6, there will be - no, not the Super Bowl! - a Chinese New Year celebration in Trafalgar Square, sponsored by London China Town (hence the cute painting)!


Which got me thinking: a great activity to do with a child who's not interested in watching the Super Bowl (bear with me Super Bowl fans - your turn is coming), would be to introduce her or him to some literary animals, all full of personality, from Beatrix Potter's imagination - found in her classic books (she wrote 23 in small format).  You can also meet her characters on this charming website by clicking on the "FUN AND GAMES" tab.  You'll also find activities, including one that puts your child into an Easter puppet show adventure with Peter (you might decide to save this for closer to the Easter holiday).

Fly Agaric 
(Amanita muscaria), 
drawn by 
Beatrix Potter 
in September 1897 
Courtesy of 
the National Trust

The tab for "BEATRIX POTTER" leads to historic photos, her artwork,  and all the information you'd ever want to know about this amazing author/illustrator. From childhood she was interested in nature and drawing (she spent hours observing and drawing her secret menagerie of pets), but she also "dedicated her later years to preserving the ecology and natural beauty of the Lake District, becoming a farmer and breeding Herdwick sheep. She worked closely with The National Trust and left them a substantial part of her estate to be preserved as a living landscape". She also donated a large collection of remarkable scientific illustrations of fossils, archaeological finds, mosses and lichens, wild flowers, microscope drawings and, most importantly, fungi to the Armitt Trust.  I saw an exhibit of her scientific illustrations years ago at a local natural history museum - they were incredible!

You may ask why PETER RABBIT has been so successful...maybe it's the timeless and compelling plot: separation from family and home, adventure, escape, and then the home-coming with lessons learned along the way (a plot as old as Homer's Odyssey!).  Or maybe it's the perfect marriage of Potter's gifted use of precise language with her detailed watercolor illustrations, which make her books so fun to read aloud.  Whatever the reason, all her stories respect the intelligence and humor of children, something all generations have appreciated. 


Now, for those of you who have kids that are into the SUPER BOWL this year...
Click HERE for some fun party ideas and crafts.  And who's the NFL player that is so quick? He's my favorite, so I'm rooting for his team, the Steelers.  Yes, it's Troy Polamalu! Read this excellent article to find out why I agree he's "head and shoulders above the rest".  I love the opening lines:

"Focus on his hair, and Troy Polamalu will play along. Ask him about his celebrity crush, and he will not.  It's an important distinction in the life of a true warrior."

If you want the "jack rabbit" comment, it was from another article, by Jonathan Mathis.  Want more? Watch this hilarious 1-minute video. (It's not exactly about football...) Still not enough?  You can read several excellent articles posted here on a wonderful blog, Adventures of an Orthodox Mom.


LASTLY, for those of you ladies who found all my football links interesting, but still don't want to watch the Super Bowl - go and rent MISS POTTER. It's one of my favorites! (Be sure to have a tissue box close by!)