The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home

by Jill Tomlinson, Paul Howard (Illustrator)

Overview

The classic story about a cat in danger of using up all of her nine lives from the author of The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark.

Suzy is a little striped cat, who lives in a French seaside village with a fisherman and his four sons. Like all cats, Suzy is very inquisitive, which causes problems when she climbs into the basket of a hot air balloon – and is carried off over the channel to England! How will she ever get back to France? It won't be easy, but Suzy refuses to be put off by a bit of water. 

Filled with gentle humour and comfort, Jill Tomlinson’s animal stories have been enjoyed by children who want to snuggle down with a good read for decades. Perfect for kids aged 5+ who love Julia Donaldson, and Dick King Smith's The Sheep Pig. This edition is beautifully illustrated by Paul Howard.

Have you enjoyed all of Jill's animal stories?

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark

The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home

The Gorilla Who Wanted to Grow Up

The Hen Who Wouldn't Give Up

The Otter Who Wanted to Know

The Penguin Who Wanted to Find Out

Jill Tomlinson never intended to be a writer.  She trained as an opera singer, and then decided to have a family whilst her voice matured.  But illness intervened, and she had to find another outlet for her energies. She started on a journalism course, and by the third lesson decided she wanted to write for children.  So she did! Jill Tomlinson’s animal stories are much-loved and have been best-selling children’s books for nearly four decades.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405271967
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/02/2014
Series:	Jill Tomlinson's Favourite Animal Tales
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	991,750
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	670L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jill Tomlinson never intended to be a writer.  She trained as an opera singer, and then decided to have a family whilst her voice matured.  But illness intervened, and she had to find another outlet for her energies. She started on a journalism course, and by the third lesson decided she wanted to write for children.  So she did! Jill Tomlinson’s animal stories are much-loved and have been best-selling children’s books for nearly four decades.

Paul Howard studied graphic design in Leicester, graduating in 1989 with first class honours. For a time he worked in London's Natural History Museum. He lives in Ireland. He won the Blue Peter Children’s Book Award 2001.

Table of Contents

	An unusual basket	1
	Up and down is no good	14
	They do it for fun	24
	Catty paddle	32
	The wettest way	41
	Suzy nearly goes under	52
	Home by car?	62
	Home at last	71

Editorial Reviews

A septet of Jill Tomlinson's tales from the 1960s and '70s appear with a generous sprinkling of half-tone illustrations by Paul Howard, sure to attract newly independent readers. The tale of a frightened owlet who, with the help of others, learns to appreciate the night-The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark (this 1968 text was also adapted to a picture-book format with full-color artwork by Howard in 2001, from Candlewick)-appears in its unabridged version, along with a half-dozen other titles in a similar format: The Aardvark Who Wasn't Sure; The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home; The Gorilla Who Wanted to Grow Up; The Hen Who Wouldn't Give Up; The Otter Who Wanted to Know; The Penguin Who Wanted to Learn. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2
Suzy lives in France with a fisherman and his four sons. One day, she climbs into a basket she spies in the field and settles in for a nap, only to wake up and find herself up in a hot-air balloon on her way to England. The cheery illustrations are full of detail, yet also come across as soft and comforting, with their pastel hues and softened lines that make Suzy a particularly endearing tabby. The rest of the story shows her various attempts to make it back home, even though the kindly old woman who takes her in is very nice and has a talking parrot. When surfing, waterskiing, and swimming fail to get her home, she finally winds up on a car ferry. As the crew and passengers attempt to capture her, she jumps overboard, where she is rescued-by four boys in a boat with their fisherman father. Suzy has found her beloved family, leaving Auntie Jo to wonder exactly where Biff the parrot learned to say "au revoir ." A charming tale for both listening to and reading independently.
—Lisa Gangemi KroppCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Suzy, a little striped cat, lives with a fisherman and his four sons in France. One day, she unknowingly falls asleep in a basket that's part of a hot-air balloon and ends up in England. The crux of the story is her effort to return to "Chez-moi." Even though an old lady takes her in, Suzy grabs every opportunity (she thinks) to find a way home: She rides a surfboard, swims beside a channel swimmer, gets stranded on a submarine and pussyfoots aboard a ferry boat to France. When she climbs the boat's mast, she sees a French fishing boat ahead-with her family aboard! Home at last. Brush strokes on the canvas background of the soft-edged illustrations add texture to the gentle, sweet quality, while the action scenes humorously depict Suzy's encounters, but overall they lack the buoyancy of Mary Calhoun's Hot-Air Henry (1981). (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews