Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Lake Elmo Library | J FICTION DEE | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | J FICTION DEE | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
In this playful homage to Charles Dickens, Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his street-cat life.
Hoping to trade London's damp alleyways for the warmth of ye olde Cheshire Cheese Inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, an erudite mouse. Skilley will protect the mice who live at the inn, and in turn, the mice will provide Skilley with the thing he desires most. But when Skilley and Pip are drawn into a crisis of monumental proportions, their new friendship is pushed to its limits. The escalating crisis threatens the peace not only of the Cheshire Cheese Inn but the entire British Monarchy!
New York Times best-selling author Carmen Agra Deedy and coauthor Randall Wright collaborate on this compelling story set in Victorian England. With the artwork of award-winning illustrator Barry Moser, The Cheshire Cheese Cat is filled with charming characters and strong themes of friendship and loyalty.
Author Notes
Award-winning children's book author and storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy was born in Havana, Cuba in 1960. She immigrated to the United States with her family in 1963 and grew up in Decatur, Georgia.
Deedy has written Agatha's Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story, Tree Man, The Library Dragon, The Last Dance, The Secret of Old Zeb, The Yellow Star, and Fourteen Cows for America. She has also contributed to National Public Radio's Weekend All Things Considered and Latino USA.
Deedy has performed as a storyteller at venues including the Disney Institute, the New Victory Theater, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Kennedy Center and also at the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Festival, the Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival, the National Book Festival, schools, conferences, and museums.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms." So opens Deedy (14 Cows for America) and Wright's (The Silver Penny) spry hybrid of historical fiction and animal story, set at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a real-life pub "famed as a haunt for London writers." The line refers to Skilley, the mouser at the tavern, where Charles Dickens is struggling to find a lead-in to his new novel. Snippets from Dickens's journal reveal his suspicions that something's askew between Skilley and the pub's substantial mice population. He's right: Skilley, who prefers eating cheese to mice, has agreed not to harm them if they bring him cheese from the storeroom. Pip, an intellectually minded mouse, teaches himself to write using his tail, a skill that comes in handy at multiple points during the novel. Moser's graphite illustrations are realistic and wonderfully emotive, especially in combination with the novel's fresh dialogue, typographical flights of fancy, and wordplay. Expertly realized characters and effervescent storytelling make this story of unlikely friendship, royal ravens, and "the finest cheese in London" a delight. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Cat and mouse may be traditional enemies, but in this appealing historical novel, a cheese-loving tom cat named Skilley takes up residence at London's Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, where he befriends Pip, one of the many mice living at the inn. With Pip's help, Skilley convinces the innkeeper that he's a fierce mouser, all the while secretly releasing his victims. The amiable Charles Dickens, a frequent customer attempting to write another novel, observes them with amusement. Meanwhile, one of the royal ravens from the Tower of London is hidden away in an upstairs room. The plot thickens when a wicked cat threatens Skilley, the mice, and the raven. With many likable characters, a couple of enjoyably despicable ones, and a lovingly depicted period setting, this eventful chapter book has plenty to offer young readers. Familiarity with Dickens' novels is not a prerequisite for enjoying the story but will add to the pleasure of those who recognize the references here and there. Moser's expressive pencil drawings capture the characters and the sometimes amusing, sometimes exciting tone of the story with finesse.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
CHILDREN have demonstrated their endless appetite for stories about mice, from Geronimo Stilton to "The Tale of Despereaux" - the more courageous the better. Maybe it's because children are wired to be curious about the escapades of creatures even smaller than they are; or maybe the enthusiasm for rodents is yet another variation on what made "Toy Story" so appealing: We all love to imagine what's going on when we're not looking or in places we can't see, like behind the walls. Either way, mouse lit is a perennial favorite, and its enthusiasts will be tickled to discover two additions, both from veteran authors. Richard Peck's witty and wise "Secrets at Sea" follows the Cranstons, a venerable mouse family (their lineage predates the Dutch in the Hudson River Valley) as they travel by steamship from New York to London, Helena's bossiness and protectiveness of siblings Louise, Beatrice and Lamont proves from the get-go that eldest mice share traits in common with their human counterparts. But Helena, who tells the story, wasn't born into this role; we immediately feel the void left by her dearly departed sisters who succumbed, along with the mouselings' parents, to the species' greatest enemies: hungry barn cat and brimming rain barrel. So why would these water-fearing mice be willing to brave an Atlantic crossing? Because the Upstairs Cranstons, the family whose kitchen wall they call home, are bound for Europe to hunt down a husband for their hopelessly uncharismatic 20-year-old daughter, Olive, and the mouse Cranstons are nothing if not loyal. Moreover, Helena's peek into a crystal ball - a marble, actually - belonging to Aunt Fannie Fenimore, a sort of Yoda figure for mice, reveals that the voyage is the best way to avoid losing one sister to a nogoodnik boyfriend, and little mouse brother Lamont to a life of petty crime. After all, Helena realizes, "You can't go back, not in this life. You have to go forward." Human or vermin, these are words to live by. And the Cranstons really do live it up at sea. Perched on spools, they gather around tables fashioned from yardsticks and alphabet blocks to dine alongside a "major infestation," a Who's Who of the mouse world, including the entire chorus of "The Nutcracker." They're dazzled by Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cheddar Gorge, a descendant of the Roqueforts and Mouse-in-Waiting to Princess Louise, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. They survive a lifeboat drill and weasel their way into a royal reception by clinging to the trains of their humans' ball gowns. People fall in love; so do mice. By the time the boat arrives at its destination, Cranstons of both persuasions have proved themselves a team, even though one half isn't aware of the existence of the other. Helena is sanguine when her humans fail to appreciate the rodents' efforts on their behalf - but isn't that always the way? "Secrets at Sea" is Peck's 33rd novel for children; he won the Newbery Medal in 2001 and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award for young people's literature. He has proved himself many times over as a storyteller - and now, definitively, as a humorist. Helena's tale is rife with snappy asides and clever but never heavy-handed mentions of mousecentric nursery rhymes like "Hickory Dickory Dock." These comic touches blend seamlessly with Peck's moving story, avoiding the buffoonery trap while still remaining accessible to young readers. The same does not always hold true for "The Cheshire Cheese Cat." Children will undoubtedly be entertained by the book's premise: Skilley, a London alley cat who has no taste for mice, takes up residence at Ye Old Cheshire Cheese and strikes a cheese-for-amnesty deal with the mouse population, led by a literate charmer named Pip. But unless readers are well schooled in Victorian literature, they may be challenged by the authors' Dickensian references. Dickens himself even lurks around the famous public house, rubbing shoulders, with literary cronies like William Makepeace Thackeray and Wilkie Collins, and desperately casting about for a first line for his novel-in-progress. Whether you come to this book as an English major or as a cat lover, you will agree the first line of "The Cheshire Cheese Cat" is pure genius: "He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms." This joint effort from Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, illustrated charmingly by Barry Moser, might be best appreciated as a read-aloud. It is sure to spark dialogue about loyalty and bullying (Skilley's nemesis, Pinch, is a textbook tormentor); and Angloplules young and old will appreciate the tale of Maldwyn, an injured raven hiding out at the Cheese and plotting a return to his rightful role guarding the Tower of London. "Secrets at Sea" may be likelier to inspire reading by flashlight after lightsout, but each tour of the miniature world is bewitching in its way. Readers will never again look at a thimble without wondering if it might have been used as a milk cup or ink pot by an industrious British mouse. Elisabeth Egan is books editor at Self magazine.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Skilley is a street cat with a secret-he likes cheese, but not mice. He seeks out the comfort of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a pub in Victorian London which is the daily hangout for Charles Dickens, who is having a terrible time coming up with an opening line for his new novel. Posing as a mouser, but really looking to avoid his nemesis, an alley cat named Pinch, and eat his fill of cheese, Skilley meets and becomes friends with Pip, a very smart and educated mouse who also has a secret-he doesn't like cheese. In addition to protecting the mice, Skilley and Pip must also find a way to get Maldwyn, a raven injured by Pinch who now resides hidden away in the pub, back to the Tower of London. When Pinch becomes a mouser at the Cheese, Skilley must stand up for Pip and the other mice. There are numerous Dickensian references and bits of his diary entries. Narrator Katherine Kellgren gives a rousing reading of this delightful novel (Peachtree, 2011) by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wight, providing wonderful characterizations and voicing the emotions of all the characters. From Skilley's almost Cockney accent to the "very British" Maldwyn, she generates excitement and adds to the already high quality of the book. Have the book available so listeners can peruse Barry Moser's marvelous illustrations.-Ann Brownson, Ballenger Teachers Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
"He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms." And for all his harsh early life and unnatural dietary preferences, ragged London alley cat Skilley gets to look at a queen, too.Landing a gig as mouser for the chophouse and writers' hangout Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a lifelong fantasy come true for both Skilley and the inn's swarm of resident micebecause unlike his feline rivals, Skilley adores cheese and has no taste for mice at all. In fact it isn't long before he and Pip, a mouse of parts who has learned to read and write, have become great friends. Deedy and Wright take this premise and run with it, tucking in appearances from Dickens, Thackeray and other writers of the time. Cat and mice unite to face such challenges as the arrival of a cruel new cat named Oliver ("Well, this was an unwelcome twist"), a mysterious cheese thief and, climactically, a wise but injured old raven that is the subject of a country-wide search that culminates in a visit to the inn by Queen Victoria Herself. Moser contributes splendid black-and-white illustrations that manage to be both realistic and funny, recalling Robert Lawson while retaining his own style.Readers with great expectations will find them fully satisfied by this tongue-in-cheek romp through a historic public House that is the very opposite of Bleak. (Animal fantasy. 10-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.