The story of a small boy who changes into a cat and is befriended by a stray and taught how to fend for himself in his new life is bewitching, and although primarily a children's book, is recommended for any cat-lover. This book is no longer in print in either the US or the UK, However, second-hand editions are reasonable easy to find - and it is not difficult to find quite nice first editions. I first read Paul Gallico’s delightful (and sobbingly heart-aching) book about a little boy who finds himself changed into a cat, when I was probably at target age 8-11, I think. Paul Gallico truly explores what it would be like to be a cat living in the wild, with no guaranteed source of food or shelter.

He has many exciting adventures with Jennie – including travelling, as the two stowaway and work passage on a Glasgow steamer.If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Deserves to be better known, it's a lovely story and well told, not hard to read, needs a contemporary cover and would stand up well against modern animal stories. Thrust into a life on the streets, he survives because he meets Jennie, a street smart cat who may hate humans but is willing to mentor the boy. Un classico affascinante, si legge come un giallo e un profondo romanzo, consigliato per tutte le età e specialmente per quelli che vogliono capire meglio come “pensano”ed agiscano gatti, e per tutti tifosi di una letteratura di alta qualità. His adventures begin because he doesn't know the first thing about being a cat and Jennie takes him under her wing, so to speak, to teach him everything that a cat ought to know.

Adopted by a sweet, knowledgeable tabby named Jennie, he learns how to survive as a homeless stray, travels to Glasgow and back, and blossoms into a big, strong cat under her intense loving care. Although it was written in the late 1940’s, and the language is old-fashioned and ‘proper’ English, any cat lover will lap this up, and if you’re anything like me, shed a tear or two. Gallico's best book about cats is still The Silent Miaow, but this one I can recommend for the fabulous northbound voyage of the Glasgow Queen, when Peter and Jenny sign on as ship's cats. There are a lot of cute moments in the book, but the unsatisfactory ending and the fact that Peter seems way too old to be an eight year old is kinda not it for me. Fortunately, he meets Jennie, a cat who had been abandoned by her family when they moved away (hence the US title), who educates him in the wiles of the feline world.Towards the end of the book, I thought that something heartbreaking would happen – either Peter or Jennie would die, or Peter would become a human being again and that would be the end of their friendship. Sounds strange to describe it that way, but it was a wonderful cat story and will be appreciated by anyone who loves cats! He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. What we were both talking about was Jennie, a novel for children, written in the fifties by Paul Gallico.