Greetings Cat Lovers and Happy Fall Bibliophiles!Today is the second day of October. How did that happen? It seems like September came and went before I knew what happened! And summer seemed to go by so fast, that I had trouble getting the cat books I read over the summer reviewed before the season ended. I will be writing reviews of the rest of the books that I read to my cats this summer first, before I read any new cat books. A lot has happened with my very own Witty Kitties since I last wrote and so there will be many more personal cat stories to tell along with my book reviews as well.
Miss Kitty, lately, has made it her mission to not only eat her food, but she has also successfully, until recently, eaten some of Flowers food on too many occasions. Poor Flo! Flowers loves Miss Kitty, but she does not like Miss Kitty eating her food, especially if there is still food in Miss Kitty's bowl. Miss Kitty has a sneakiness about her sometimes, but if you catch her she either hisses or denies it depending on the situation. She has been like that for as long as my family has had her, but under the surface she can be a sweet girl.
Flowers is a different sort of kitty cat than her sister. Flowers is more of a "scaredy cat" literally, but she has a curious nature as well. She wants to feel safe, but sometimes she wants so badly to peek around a corner and then run off down the hall and hide under a bed or night stand. Flowers only hisses when she feels scared or wants to be left alone, so it is easy to figure out what she wants and does not want. Flowers, lately, has been sweeter than she had been. I think she is trying to make sure she is still the "baby girl" in the family. Which she still technically is, but Buddy, the newest pet and dog in the house is the largest but youngest, the new baby! He also happens to be the sweetest of them all! Flowers has decided to be sweet like a kitten again to get more attention and who could blame a girl for trying. She will always be loved as well as her mischievous sister, Miss Kitty.
My kitties remind me so much of the first book I actually read to them this summer, Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde by Joyce Dunbar. The illustrator of the book is Jill Barton. Even though I read Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde this past summer, it would be even more enjoyable reading for October because of Halloween. If you have not guessed already by the title of Joyce Dunbar's book, this is a simple cat version of A Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you are a fan of this classic piece of Scottish literature of the 19th century by Robert Louis Stevenson, you might enjoy Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde. If you are a fan of storybook characters being good and not so good maybe bad at times, then you will enjoy this book as well. If you are reading this blog of mine, are probably a cat lover or have a fondness for the feline species, which in that case you would love Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde, This book can appeal to so many different kinds of readers. While I recommend this book to many people, I do caution against reading this book to very young children who might be frightened by cats catching mice and eating them or animals in the dark lurking around. If you have a young child, I recommend reading Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde yourself before hand to see if this book might be too scary for sharing with your child. While I love my cats, Miss Kitty and Flowers, I am still not a fan of seeing Miss Kitty eat a mouse or bird or Flowers eating a gecko.
This book reminds all of us that in each sweet cat is a little bit of darkness and hunter of prey like Mr. Hyde in Robert Louis Stevenson's book. One minute you could be petting your sweet cat and all of a sudden a fly zooms bye and your cat is off to hunt the flying prey in the house. The cat in the book is a tuxedo black and white cat like Flowers, but loves to hunt mice and run around outside in the shadow like Miss Kitty. My favorite lines in Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde are near the end, "Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde... One cat, two names...One wild, one tame. Come the night she changes faces casting off her daytime graces." Joyce Dunbar's story is written like poetic verses, that switches from a
domestic cat on one page, to a huntress cat on the next page. She has you think sweet things about your own cat and then has you wondering about the wild thing you have roaming your house in disguise at day only to change at night to go prowling for prey. The illustrator does an excellent job at capturing both sides of a house cat in minimal colors. Aside from the changes in muted background colors in illustrations of Puss Jekyll, the cat's green eyes, pink tongue and nose; the illustrations are mainly in black white and grey colors. The choice of a tuxedo cat makes the story easy to understand the difference between dark and light and the difference between the two sides of every cat. I guess you never should judge a book by its cover entirely. Just like you should never judge a cat by its look, because sometimes animals especially cats and some people need to get to know someone before they can become friends.
I hope you venture out to your local library or bookstore and go on the hunt for Puss Jekyll, Cat Hyde by Joyce Dunbar for a very enjoyable book about the true nature of cats.
If you want to know more about this book, you can visit the publisher's website: http://www.franceslincoln.com/childrens/puss-jekyll-cat-hyde
A Cat Person (& Dog and Bird Person Too!),
Alesia
P.S. The above photo is of Flowers yawning. Even in the sweetest of kitty yawns, we are reminded of those lovely teeth!
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