Reviews of Cat Books by Ellen Pilch

Books by Ellen J. Pilch

Ellen J. Pilch wrote the two books you see above, Prancie’s Prayer and I Am Not A Skunk. I was unable to get photos of Franklin with the books so I used Franklin’s blankie as a background sans Frankie. Ellen has also contributed to the anthology, Black Cats Tell All. Ellen’s charming blog about cats, “15 and Meowing” can be found here.

My reviews:

PRANCIE’S PRAYER by Ellen J. Pilch

A cat gets a new home at Christmas time!

It’s a cold winter and a cat has been left in a forest to fend for herself. The sad kitty roams until she finds a house where the people are outside, decorating for Christmas. She’s hesitant to approach them and curls up to sleep in the manger scene, but the next day she’s still cold, hungry, and homeless, so she begins to meow at the door.

As the story unfolds we see that the people are kind, the spirit of the Christmas season will prevail, and the cat will get a forever home. Based on the author’s experiences of adopting stray cats, the book ends on a note of sweetness. It’s an excellent story for children, showing them that even in a world that can be cold and harsh, kindness does exist. Nicolas Peruzzo’s illustrations work well with the text. This book would be good for any time of year, but of course it’s perfect for the Christmas season. Here’s the link to Amazon to get Prancie’s Prayer

I AM NOT A SKUNK by Ellen J. Pilch

Who’s out there? A skunk? Or a cat?

This story opens when a housecat is abandoned and left outside. She walks around hungry and sees some nice new people working in their yard, but . . . due to being black-and-white, she’s declared a “skunk” by one of the adults. There’s a happy ending when the child finds a way to prove that the “skunk” is really a cat.

I like this book as a story for children for several reasons. Based on the author’s own adoption of stray cats, it shows children that animals they see outside may sometimes be in need of food and homes. There are life lessons in the book, for instance, never jump to conclusions based on quick first impressions and appearances, and never doubt the intuition and ingenuity of children. The illustrations by Nicolas Peruzzo are vibrant, and I like the way he depicts cats.

I think this book would be great for households with young children, but also for adults. As an adult I thought it was both touching and funny. Here’s the link to Amazon to get I Am Not A Skunk

Franklin in dreamland

Franklin did supervise this post while lounging on me. It looks like he’s sleeping on the job, but he’s actually working hard . . .

I’d like to do more book reviews . . . there are several I have promised but I am very late, a year or two in some cases. That’s because my staying power has gone way down, I now don’t have the kind of energy I need to either read or compose writing in the evenings. That was the time when I used to get a lot done. So please bear with me if I should have done a review of anyone’s book(s) and I haven’t. I’ll try to get to everyone eventually. This also impacts my ability to get around and comment. I enjoy all the marvelous blogs I’m following and I wish I could comment on them all every day. As it stands, it’s getting harder for me to comment even once in awhile. But even if I don’t comment often or ever, if I “like” your posts it means I really do like them! I’m trying to both re-arrange my schedule and hope for the better!

Weird abstract pictures, and kittens, are coming soon, I hope!