The Mousehole Cat

by Nicola Bayley and Antonia Barber

Book Overview

When the Great Storm-Cat threatens the small English village of Mousehole, only an old fisherman's cat can soothe its fierceness during a dangerous sea venture. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0027083314
• ISBN13: 9780027083316
• Release Date: September 1990
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Length: 24 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.2" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Beautiful, stirring, my kids loved it!

When my children were young, this was one of the bedtime stories they loved best. It's particularly good for cat lovers! The illustrations are gorgeous, and the story moves through suspense to a beautiful resolution -- a feast at the end of a storm-tossed fishing trip.

One of the most perfect children's books I know

This is an extraordinary book. Antonia Barber has produced a superb story, based on the legend of the Cornish village of Mousehole. Tom is an old fisherman who lives with Mowzer, his cat, who is also aging gracefully. Their lives--organized around fish, firesides, milk, and scratching of ears--fill the first few pages, and then the Great Storm-Cat arrives, howling around the harbor and bottling up the fishing fleet. Food in the village starts to run low. Finally, the day before Christmas, Tom and Mowzer go out to fish together in the teeth of the storm, so that the children of the village should not be hungry on Christmas Day.The text is powerful--remarkably so for a children's book. But Nicola Bayley's paintings are, if possible, even more astonishing. There is a gorgeous picture of the Great Storm-Cat and Mowzer at sea; fine, characterful pictures of Tom, Mowzer and the village of Mousehole; and among other treasures, one picture that always moves me to tears. Another reviewer said the book made them weep: I know the page they were talking about. It's where Tom and Mowzer sail back to the village, to discover that the villagers have realized they are gone, and are waiting for them.Enough. It's a beautiful picture. Buy the book, even if you don't have kids, though you'll get far more pleasure from reading this to a child. The language is a little complex for a child under five, but you can simplify as you read. And you'll read it again and again.

A really good read

This book was really one of the best I've ever read. I suppose because I'm only eight I haven't read that many - but this is still the best so far (Harry Potter is next, so who knows?).The illustrations were superb and I would read this book again, and again and again.

A book that transcends age

This is one of those books that I can never read out loud to my children without weeping. There is something so touching about the devotion of Mowser, the cat, to Tom (her human); of Tom to the hungry children of his village; of his village to the old fisherman who risks his life to try to save them from starving. The depth of the pathos is probably most apparent to the adults reading this book; my kids always know I am going to cry, but I don't think they quite understand the sweetness of my tears. They appreciate the excitement of the story, and Mowser's pluck and skill. Bayley's illustrations are stunningly detailed and really elevate the story like a vividly remembered dream. This is a perfect book.

Through the Mousehole...

You'll find that Nicola Bayley has a wonderful gift for picking the very best stories to illustrate with such lovely artwork. "Mousehole Cat" is must-reading, as is "The Patchwork Cat", which I sincerely WISH that someone would reprint! Copies are hard to find!