| Product: |
Cat Song - Andrew Matthews, Allan Curless |
| Date: |
07/09/01 (126 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Cats!
Disadvantages: ????
There’s been a bit of a debate going down here on dooyoo recently, about evolution. Sidneygee, Whitehorse and Mykreeve, among others, have tackled Darwin, Tassot, DNA, Genetic Engineering, Survival of the Fittest, and a whole host of related theories and ideas. But no-one has mentioned the theory of one Andrew Matthews, which is that all the animals came into being because GOD SANG THEM!
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~ ~ ~ Voice of concerned dooyooer: ‘Now hold it right there Mrs Moomin. Are you trying to tell me that there are cats, snails, dragonflies and cows on this planet because some fictional (or not?) old man with a crazy beard and weird clothes (or not?) happened to have a rather pleasing singing voice?? Surely this can’t be true . . . .’
Well of course I’m not telling you that silly, not really! But it’s a nice idea, isn’t it?? And this little book, written by Matthews and illustrated by Allan Curless is all about what happened when God woke up one morning singing the Cat Song . . .
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The fluffy, furry whatever-they-ares tumble out of nowhere as God sings his little song. Soon his room is full of them, eyes peering out at him from all over the place. He takes them downstairs to find them some food – but all he can find in his pantry are some bits of cold star and two pots of darkness left over from the beginning. He feeds them the darkness in saucers, which they lap up greedily. ‘You’ve a taste for the dark then?’ says God.
But there are so many cats that God doesn’t know what to do with them all. So he pops them into a basket and sets off for a walk down the mountain to the ‘green fields of the world’. The first people he comes across are Mr and Mrs Farmer. They are a bit fed up because rats and mice are nibbling all the grain, and worse still keeping them awake at night. ‘A-ha!’ thinks God, and lets a few cats out of th
e bag (ok basket – whatever!). Mr and Mrs Farmer are pleased with their new helpers, and toddle off quite happy. With his basket not quite as full, God continues his walk.
Next he happens upon Mr and Mrs Fisherman. Like the Farmers, they are feeling a bit glum. Mr Fisherman is upset because too many fish are stinking the place out, and poor Mrs Fisherman is lonely because she is on her own most of the time now the children have left. The solution?? ‘I’ve got just the thing . . .’ says God as he tips out a few more pusses. ‘ . . . They’ll help you eat the fish . . . and be good company for you’. The good fisherman and his wife are most chuffed!
God spends the rest of the day walking around finding homes for all the cats. When the basket is empty he wanders back home, all the time thinking about the fluffy, furry creatures. He gets in, and sees the empty saucers on the floor. Poor God. ‘I wish I’d kept one of those cats for myself’ says he.
But wait – of course God can have a cat – he can sing can’t he?? So he warbles a few notes of the Cat Song, and lo and behold a huge tabby appears, purring loudly. But what to give it to eat? There’s no darkness left, and not a mouse or rat in the place. God has a good think. ‘Something white . . .white and delicious and creamy . . . ‘
He hums a few practice notes – la lala la LAAAAAA . . . . .
And God sang cows.
* * * * *
So there you have it. A simple little story, which according to the blurb is suitable for reading together – 4 years and over, and reading alone – 7 years and over. I reckon that any child will enjoy Cat Song, but what really makes the book special are the fabulous pictures.
The cover is made up of hundreds of cats – all shapes and sizes, with huge yellow eyes. There they are look, up at the top of this opinion. I
know you can’t see them very well, but you get the idea! Every page has a picture, a full-sized, double-spread, full-colour epic with the words somewhere in the middle. The first one is my favourite – when God sings the Cat Song the notes start off as ordinary quavers and semiquavers but gradually shape themselves into cats across the page. See the expressions on the cats faces as they find themselves unexpectedly called into being – just wonderful!
The people God meets on his cat-distributing mission have lovely, homely faces, and no detail was spared when drawing the rats and mice in the barn, or the strings of fish. And at the end, when God sings the Cow Song, it is such a surprise and the cows look so funny that I often laugh out loud!
Although it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, when I brought the book to work to show to colleagues with small children they weren’t really into the whole ‘God’ thing. But in my opinion the fact that it is ‘God’ as opposed to Buddha, Mohammed, Shiva or whoever makes no difference to the fact that this is a great book. And anyway, there is never a picture of God, just a hint of his trailing white robes – the cats are the true stars of this story. It’s not meant to be a serious take on the creation of the world, it’s simply a highly imaginative story and a great excuse for lots of cat pictures. It’s a charming little book, guaranteed to raise a smile.
Go on, you know they’ll love it! And Amazon are selling it at 3.99 at the moment – a whole £ cheaper than the published price. It’s only 15 weeks til Christmas you know . . . .
Published by Red Fox 1996
ISBN 0-09-915241-X
Published Price 4.99
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