Cat Nights

Jane Manning's spellbinding picture book takes its inspiration from the tale of the "Cat Nights" of late summer. From this legend comes the saying, "A cat has nine lives."

The artist has illustrated numerous books for children, including the national bestseller The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches, by Alice Low. Cat Nights is the first book she has both written and illustrated. Jane Manning lives in Deep River, Connecticut.

PreSchool-Grade 2—Friendly looking watercolors illustrate a charming story, loosely based on an Irish legend, about why cats have nine lives. Felicity, a young witch, is excited about her upcoming birthday. She's finally turning 263 and is excited about the changes that this magical age brings: her first wart; curling shoe toes; the ability to cast a love spell; and, most thrilling of all, the capacity to turn herself into a cat. "Give me whiskers and moonlight sight,/as I become a cat tonight./My witchy self will now be gone,/but I'll return by break of dawn!" Gentle tension arises as her cousins Wanda, Willa, and Woo worry that she might make the transition permanent by one too many nocturnal changes—the eighth change cannot be reversed—and attempt to intervene with a spell of their own. In the end, all is well: Felicity has made her decision about who she really wants to be. Easy-to-read text features simple dialogue and fresh word choices ("she didn't care a whisker about the rules") that work well with large illustrations of the orange-striped feline and the Halloween season. A great read-aloud choice for storytimes.—Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
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