Lovely little book- my only complaint is exactly the same as the Merlin series– they needed to be longer! It’s about four kittens who are born to a city alley cat, with wings. No explanation why, the mother cat is just as confused as the reader but shrugs it off. She realizes the benefits when one of her kittens flies up in sudden panic to escape a dog. She gently but firmly teaches her kittens, and encourages them to use their wings to fly away and find a better life. So they do- they fly away to the countryside and make a new home in a forest. It’s very different from their old life. Not necessarily easier. They have to find food, are bothered by noisy fighting raccoons, upset the local bird population (who are outraged to meet cats that can fly!) and get seriously frightened by an owl. But then a child spots them in a clearing, and sets out food, hoping to see them again. It looks like the catwings might have a good future with a new, kind-hearted human friend.
Such a sweet story. With beautiful illustrations by S.D. Schindler (they reminded me of Mercer Mayer’s in the fine detail). I’m very disappointed my local library only has the first book of the series. Really want to get my hands on the rest, but I’m looking for the one that published all four books in a single volume. It just feels like I barely read the first few chapters here!
Also sad that my eleven-year-old is probably beyond the age that would appreciate this book, but I’m going to try and get her to read it anway.
Borrowed from the public library.
2 Responses
I feel certain I read this one, but I can’t find any mention of it on my blog. Sounds really wonderful!
I did some looking around, but I wasn’t able to find all four books in one. I couldn’t even find number two or four in ebook form at all! Lots of book one, one single copy of book three on all the sites I know, no two or four or complete work.
Yeah, I think to finish the series I’ll have to buy the other three books. It’s a shame they’re not more readily available- such a sweet story. My eleven-year-old liked it too.