Gretchen Woelfle's "Katje the Windmill Cat" will have great appeal for children and cat lovers alike. The true tale of a brave cat which ended up saving a baby during a 15th-century flood in southern Holland, "Katje the Windmill Cat" begins quietly enough with Katje and her owner, Nico, enjoying the solitude of windmill life together. They play together, eat together, and even cozy up together at night. Both are content.

Then Nico brings home a bride, and soon enough, there is a baby girl named Anneke. Although Katje feels a little pushed aside, she does her best to amuse and take care of the baby. Her efforts are not always appreciated by Lena, Nico's wife, but all is forgiven when, at the end, Katje saves the day and Anneke alike.

Nicola Bayley's superb, softly colored illustrations greatly enhance the text. Pictures of the cat and her family subtly boost the story, as do the utterly charming Delft tile squares on each page--some depicting cats, some windmills, some dikes, and so on. This is a lovely story for almost any age, and the illustrations bring fresh visual rewards with each viewing (try finding the mice scattered throughout!).

Since my parents are from Holland, I was thrilled to find a book that relates to my heritage. The book is beautiful, filled with moving illustrations, adorned with little Delft blue tiles. My son (age 4) loves the story, and we always hold our breath as the little cat saves the baby's life. That it is based on a Dutch legend only adds more to the story. And there is a gentle thread of humor woven through the story, as well.

CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
Nicola Bayley's picturebook The Mousehole Cat won an array of prizes, and became a popular film and video. Now she has a new cat star, Katje, who lives with a miller in a Dutch village in the 15th century. This handsome picturebook, lovingly produced, is based on the true story of a baby and a cat who survived a flood in 1421.
Bayley's pictures are characteristically painstaking and gentle, softly lit, finely worked, and pretty. The setting has the feeling of a fairy tale, though it is carefully historical, and Bayley makes use of an appropriate margin of blue-and-white Dutch tiles, which pick up details of the story.
Although the tale and the illustrations are particular in place and time (with a historical note of the real facts and locations), the book has a wide appeal, because it is romantic and adventurous, and because the subtly understated text concerns friendship, parents' love for a child, and the mixture of protectiveness and rivalry that siblings feel towards each other. Cat-lovers will delight too in Bayley's ability to capture the feline.
Katje feels usurped when her owner brings home a new bride, who shoos the cat out when she is sweeping, for fear of floury pawprints. But the cat is delighted with the new baby when it arrives. Although she is discouraged from getting close, she plays with the baby when nobody is looking. One day, a storm causes a break in the dike, and the baby and cat are swept away in a cradle. Katje keeps the infant safe until they are rescued, and nobody ever shoos her away again.
Full of atmosphere and tenderness, this is a book that should make children smile. One to treasure.

I recently bought this book and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I too would recommend this book for cat lovers everywhere. My favorite thing in this book is: When In Doubt - Wash It's a wonderful bit contributed by Paul Gallico and speaks volumes about the attitudes of our feline friends. Thumbs up on the illistrations too. Great job!

Nicola Bayley's latest is a treat for cat lovers and anyone who enjoys brilliant illustrations. She has combined her love of cats, literature, fine art, and pure charm. If you like any or all of these, then this is for you.

Although she is listed as an illustrator of children's books (The Patchwork Cat is a classic) her skill should rank her along with other great artists.

This book is a MUST if you are a cat lover. The poetry, writings, and art are great! You can read it over and over and be delighted each time. You can also just skim through the beautiful art when you need to be entertained.

I received this book over 25 years ago from my uncle/godfather before I could even read. I remember being so mesmerized by the beautiful illustrations, I would make someone read it to me every night just so I could look at the pictures! It's definitely worth an out-of-print search! I got hold of another copy a few years ago which I intend to pass on to my recently-born niece!

I have a copy of this book from years ago when I was a child. I was sad to see that it is out of print, and feel sorry for the children who won't have the opportunity to experience it. I remember many a day of reading and rereading this wonderful book.

Adventure, Poetry, Fantastically Colorful and Detailed Artwork combine in this short classic of children's literature.

It's worth an out of print search.

Alec

This is a series of five individual stories about cats who wish to be another animal. The stories are simple to read and wonderfully creative. I originally bought the set for my four children and now read them to my grandchildren. They all love them and want them read over and over again. One four-year-old grandson has them memorized. The illustrations are beautifully done by the author. Her talent in capturing a cat and its antics is wonderful. I highly recommend this collection of little easy-reader books for all ages. They make you smile.

What an absolute wonderful story!!! Children await eagerly for the next page of this beautifully illustrated book to be turned. What a clever format...a cat dreaming of being another completely different animal! Fun to read to preschoolers. My son got this when he was one year and still treasures it as an adult. It never gets out dated. The illustrations are so detailed...and the expressions on the cat as the story unfolds are priceless. I highly recommend this book.

This book is based on a true tradition still celebrated every year in the small Cornish fishing village of Mousehole ('Mowzel'). Sort of "the old man and the sea" from a cat's perspective with a happy ending. Great illustrations.

When my children were young, this was one of the bedtime stories they loved best. It's particularly good for cat lovers! The illustrations are gorgeous, and the story moves through suspense to a beautiful resolution -- a feast at the end of a storm-tossed fishing trip.

A wonderful story with beautiful pictures. If it doesn't warm your heart, you're not human! It is so good, I've bought a stack of copies to send out as Christmas gifts.

This is an extraordinary book. Antonia Barber has produced a superb story, based on the legend of the Cornish village of Mousehole. Tom is an old fisherman who lives with Mowzer, his cat, who is also aging gracefully. Their lives--organized around fish, firesides, milk, and scratching of ears--fill the first few pages, and then the Great Storm-Cat arrives, howling around the harbor and bottling up the fishing fleet. Food in the village starts to run low. Finally, the day before Christmas, Tom and Mowzer go out to fish together in the teeth of the storm, so that the children of the village should not be hungry on Christmas Day.

The text is powerful--remarkably so for a children's book. But Nicola Bayley's paintings are, if possible, even more astonishing. There is a gorgeous picture of the Great Storm-Cat and Mowzer at sea; fine, characterful pictures of Tom, Mowzer and the village of Mousehole; and among other treasures, one picture that always moves me to tears. Another reviewer said the book made them weep: I know the page they were talking about. It's where Tom and Mowzer sail back to the village, to discover that the villagers have realized they are gone, and are waiting for them.

Enough. It's a beautiful picture. Buy the book, even if you don't have kids, though you'll get far more pleasure from reading this to a child. The language is a little complex for a child under five, but you can simplify as you read. And you'll read it again and again.

This is an absolutely stunning children's book, and I say that with an awful lot of beautiful books in our family library. The "story"/song that accompanies the illustrations takes a quick backseat to the visual feast but is fine and true to its religious origins. I haven't yet tested this out on my 6 year old (Christmas being a bit away), but my take on this book is that because of the lack of ACTION! he won't appreciate it unless we block out a lot of the bustle of the day and get into a cozy space that allows for more concentration than the usual pace of our evenings. However, I think it's good to have a book so lovely that it compels you to try to create that space with your child, at least during one season every year.

The text of this book by Phyllis Root draws on Christmas tradions from all over the world. Animals of all sorts rejoice in the birth of the child: this idea that all nature celebrates a great event or mourns a great loss is an ancient convention in Western literature. Root's simple, beautiful language takes no back seat to anything, including the art, exquisite though the illustrations certainly are. Nicola Bayley has drawn on art in medieval manuscripts for the design of the book, using complicated borders around the pages and jewel-toned miniatures set in a filigree surround. It shouldn't be considered only a Christmas book or a religious text, for its theme of joy in beginnings and the hope inherent in the birth of a baby is universal. It would be an lovely gift for adults as well as children, particularly for new mothers, at any time of year.