Castaway Cats

Title: Castaway Cats

Author: Lisa Wheeler (Illustrated by Ponder Goembel)

Publisher: Richard Jackson Books

Copyright Date: 2006

Print Date: June 2006

ISBN: 9780689862328

Pages: Approx. 31

Book Description (from dust jacket):

A storm, a shipwreck,
an ongoing ocean,
then finally, finally
a deserted isle. . . .
Safety — but wait!
The fifteen swimmers
braving the waves
are, after all . . . kitties.
They are not into
cooperating
until, until
on this desert isle
they must.

Here,
from the creators
of the witty Old Cricket,
comes a wily, wise
saga of sogginess,
a feline fantasy
about drying off (elegantly),
shaping up (grumpily),
getting along (at last),
and loving it.

Comments:

I picked this up at the library (How could I resist? Cats! And it looked so interesting...). According to the publisher, it is intended for ages 4-7.

It was fun reading this,
especially finding all (15) cats involved in the illustrations. Among the most interesting was the male calico (rare) named Mittens who sported a couple tattoos and took on most the mothering tasks... (Picture comes from Ponder Goembel's website). And, of course, being the siamese cat lover that I am, I enjoyed seeing what "the twins" were up to.  Each breed has their own personalities and way of reacting in the story.

Also, the story is told in the usual way then repeated in a verse-like form:

Fifteen cats by tempest blown —
Seven babes and eight full grown.

Anyway, a cute book.