Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard life and trade his damp alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn...
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Dec 28, 2011
Donalyn
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London alley cat Skilley takes a job as mouser for Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a renowned chophouse and writers’ hangout. Unfortunately, Skilley prefers eating cheese to mice, and must form an uneasy alliance with the hordes of mice infesting the inn. Charles Dickens, a frequent visitor to the inn, observes the curious relationship between Skilley and the mice while he struggles to find an opening line for his latest novel. With appearances from a mean cat named Oliver to an injured Tower Raven to
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Feb 13, 2012
Barb
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Skilley, the cat, has a secret. He hates to eat mice and loves cheese. He finds the perfect job at the Ye Olde Chesire Cheese Inn which makes the best cheese in the county. He makes a pact with the mice at the Inn where he pretends to kill them in exchange for them giving him cheese. Charles Dickens, the writer, goes to the Inn as well and is trying to write his novel, A Tale of Two Cities. He’s having a dickens of a time. When the barmaid brings home a vicious tomcat, who truly eats mice, and
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Jan 28, 2012
Tina
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I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I had a hard time NOT sharing this book until summer when the Summer Book Club for Middle Grade fiction kicks off. Obviously I didn't win! LOL
The Cheshire Cheese Cat is a very unique and creative book with many endearing characters and much action. Skilley the cat finds himself a "job" at the Old Cheshire Cheese Inn and manages to avoid spilling his secret (he doesn't EAT mice) and (loves cheese) by pretending to catch the same mouse over More...
The Cheshire Cheese Cat is a very unique and creative book with many endearing characters and much action. Skilley the cat finds himself a "job" at the Old Cheshire Cheese Inn and manages to avoid spilling his secret (he doesn't EAT mice) and (loves cheese) by pretending to catch the same mouse over More...
Dec 29, 2011
Alice
rated it:
This book is utterly charming.
Skilley, the alley cat with a secret, and Pip, the intelligent mouse, make a delightful duo that readers will find an immediate liking to.
Other characters are also well developed, such as the cute little mouse named ‘Too’; “As in ‘too loud, too curious, too impulsive’. If one can be too much of anything, that’s Too.” to quote Pip on page 47.
The interactions between Skilley, Pip (and the rest of the mice), and Maldwyn the raven More...
Skilley, the alley cat with a secret, and Pip, the intelligent mouse, make a delightful duo that readers will find an immediate liking to.
Other characters are also well developed, such as the cute little mouse named ‘Too’; “As in ‘too loud, too curious, too impulsive’. If one can be too much of anything, that’s Too.” to quote Pip on page 47.
The interactions between Skilley, Pip (and the rest of the mice), and Maldwyn the raven More...
Nov 22, 2011
Maxine
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The Cheshire Cheese Inn makes the best cheese in all of Victorian England. As a result, it attracts some very prominent patrons including author Charles Dickens. It also attracts a huge number of mice. The Cheshire Cheese is badly in need of a cat.
As luck would have it, Skilley, an alley cat with a shameful secret, is badly in need of a home. So when he learns that the Inn is looking for a mouser, he quickly offers his services.
This charmer of a story is aimed at middle grade More...
As luck would have it, Skilley, an alley cat with a shameful secret, is badly in need of a home. So when he learns that the Inn is looking for a mouser, he quickly offers his services.
This charmer of a story is aimed at middle grade More...
Dec 31, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
My last book of the year was a clever one. The cat, mouse, and human characters are endearing and fun. I know I am missing Dickensian references because I am not that familiar with his work. I haven't read A Tale of Two Cities or Bleak House, but I enjoyed the literary humor bits. I at least got the (very funny) joke with the first line of the book and the Great Expectations references. Pip, funny chapter ending...
It's a quick read with short chapters. So it's like The Tale of Despereaux More...
It's a quick read with short chapters. So it's like The Tale of Despereaux More...
Dec 21, 2011
Wendy
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I didn't dislike this as much as I was afraid I might--because what is worse than an animal story? An anthropomorphic animal story. Also, it's got to be among the WASPiest book I've ever read (though one of the authors is Cuban, so I don't know what point I'm trying to make). But the truly good writing saved it for me. And the fact that the cutesy playing with typesetting didn't extend beyond the first few pages. I thought I was going to have to put up with a whole book of text shaped like cat's
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Jan 15, 2012
Mary Ann
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I've been wondering about how books hook readers, how they draw us in, and what makes us stay. Sometimes, it's immediate conflict and action; other times, we're enchanted with a magical place. The Cheshire Cheese Cat hooked me from the very first line: "He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms. Fleet of foot, sleek and solitary, Skilley was a cat among cats. Or so he would have been, but or a secret he had carried since his early youth." This book hooked me from the beginning,
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Oct 06, 2011
Gmr
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“He was the best of Toms. He was the worst of Toms….”
…and so begins this fanciful story of an unlikely duo able to find the strengths in their differences and come to an understanding that our friends are not defined by our species or background, but by those we deem worthy of associating with. If they be cut from a different cloth than our own, so be it…it may just prove to our own enrichment as well their own, and who would want to deny anyone that opportunity?
Skilley is an More...
…and so begins this fanciful story of an unlikely duo able to find the strengths in their differences and come to an understanding that our friends are not defined by our species or background, but by those we deem worthy of associating with. If they be cut from a different cloth than our own, so be it…it may just prove to our own enrichment as well their own, and who would want to deny anyone that opportunity?
Skilley is an More...
Sep 23, 2011
Sharon
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The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale is a collaboration of authors Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright with illustrator Barry Moser that is due to be published on October 1 2011. This animal tale is a historical fiction, fantasy, and chock full of literary references that will entertain readers of all ages, though it is aimed at middle school aged children. The Cheshire Cheese is a pub that has the best cheese in England, a cranky cook, several prominent Victorian era authors as regula
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Nov 09, 2011
Phoebe
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A fun and inventive animal fantasy set in Victorian England about a stray cat named Skilley who doesn't have a taste for mouse--he loves cheese. Therefore, when he manages to become the mouser at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, he is pleased to find a sweet deal: he'll only pretend to catch the mice, and they will supply him with morsels of the best cheese in England. But Pinch, a nasty alley cat who has it in for Skilley, worms his way into the maid's good graces and becomes another mouser for the in
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Oct 07, 2011
Kara
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Next year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. This lively novel, in which Dickens plays a supporting role--but his influence is evident throughout--is a good way to get the party started. The Cheshire Cheese Cat is about a cat who loves cheese, a mouse who loves language, a crow who loves Queen and Country, and a novelist with no opening line. The story is set in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, an actual London pub which was frequented by some of the most distinguished writers
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Oct 30, 2011
Rebecca
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I don’t often read middle grade fiction, but when I heard about The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright (published by Peachtree Publishers, October 2011) at BEA in May, I was excited to read it. After all, the subtitle is “A Dickens of the Tale” and I knew that Charles Dickens and his friends were characters in the tale about animals, friendship, and finding a place. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I love Victorian literature. What could be better?
Further, s More...
Further, s More...
Sep 03, 2011
Barbara
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Jan 18, 2012
Kristin
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Fairly easy reading at first, but this book about a cat, a mouse and a raven starts to plod a little as things go on. Riffing heavily on life in Dickensian/Victorian England and using lots of big words to go with it, this book would make a good family read aloud due to the varied levels of storytelling: basic talking animals plot for younger kids, historical fiction and Dickens introduction for middle grade readers and deeper references to this world for parents. A lot of effort went into making
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Feb 12, 2012
Jen
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The Cheshire Cheese Inn makes the best cheese in the country, and is a common hangout for several authors, including Charles Dickens. Dickens is struggling to come up with an opening line for his newest serial about the French Revolution, but he is distracted by the oddly acting animals at the Inn. The cat Skilley has been brought in as a mouser, but he has a dark secret. Instead of mousing, he teams up with Pip, the feisty leader of the mice, to work on a mutually acceptable agreement. All
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Nov 04, 2011
Beth
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Charming tale that takes place in Victorian England; the main characters are Skilly (a cat) and Pip (a mouse), who form an unlikely alliance. Their mutual enemy is Pinch, a fierce and hungry cat who makes his way into a public house famous for its delicious cheese. Among the cast in this action-packed story are Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and even Queen Victoria herself. The safety of England itself is at stake and it will take the combined efforts of good-hearted and brave animals, along wi
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Feb 10, 2012
Anna
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Such a fun book for the Dickens' fan! I love that Dickens had "great expectations" for his latest novel (A Tale of Two Cities) - it is complete except that he is searching for an opening line (It was the best of times. It was the worst of times...)! The Cheshire Cheese Cat starts with "He was the best of Toms..."! Skilley is a street cat that doesn't like to eat mice but does like cheese so living at the Cheshire Cheese is perfect. He strikes an alliance with the hundred
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Dec 28, 2011
Bethany
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Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is famous for--well, yes, its cheese. As you may expect of such a place, the Inn is infested with mice, and so the owner decides, as you do, that the Inn is in want of a cat. Skilley, an alley cat with a secret, shameful love of cheese, decides that a warm inn filled with the stuff is exactly the place he wants to be; he works out a deal with the mice to be provided with the cheese (kept behind a locked door) and to protect the mice in exchange. Unfortunately, Pinch, a
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Aug 08, 2011
Elizabeth
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Animal stories. Done well and you get something like Charlotte’s Web or The Incredible Journey. Done poorly and you cannot name for me a more annoying genre. Some days it seems to me that every great children’s author eventually tries their hand at the style to varying degrees of success. Burned one time too many I’ve taken to just avoiding books with animals in them altogether unless there’s something that seems to be extraordinary about them. So when The Cheshire Cheese Cat came into my p
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Dec 31, 2011
MrsB
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There are children's books that kids love and adults like, and then there are children's books that kids like but adults love. This is the latter. I'm not sure most kids will pick up on the hilarious Dickensian references or nuances of this book, but I found it laugh out loud enjoyable. It was a very quick read as clues and twists and turns just keep twirling each chapter. Some of the chapters are just a page long which will appeal to the struggling reader. If you just look at the animal el
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Jun 07, 2011
Lisa
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An all-ages, charming gem found at BEA. At the signing table, the writers said the finished version will include a glossary: "Huzzah!" There's much vocabulary expanding fun to be gleaned from Pip, the "big cheese" mouse of the Cheshire Inn house. I also hope the whimsical typography is adopted to more chapters, it was visually intriguing and enhanced the fanciful aspects of this unique adventure. This book and its delicate pencil illustrations reminded me of the classic YA bo
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Nov 14, 2011
Teri
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This delightful children's book about a cat, Skilley, who likes cheese better than fresh mouse, also serves as an introduction to Victorian Literature and the import of the Ravens of the Tower. At pains to hide his 'affliction', Skilley is non-the-less is given residence at the famous Cheshire Cheese Pub where he attempts to covertly protect the mice from the more pugnacious cat, Pinch. Chas. Dickens makes an appearance, as well as Someone from the Palace. There is a glossary of handy voca
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Jan 29, 2012
Claire
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I enjoyed this book immensely - a fantasy that interweaves real characters in a fictional tall tale. A cheese eating cat befriends a mouse at a historic English pub, where writer Charles Dickens is a frequent guest. Dickens, struggling to write his work "A Tale of Two Cities" is drawn into a mystery with the inn keeper's daughter, Nell, a missing Tower raven, an amazing mouse, Pip, and two alley cats - Skilley and Pinch. Illustrations complete the tale. Targeted for elementary schoo
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Oct 14, 2011
Bookstorequeer
rated it:
I quite enjoyed this one. I do love my talking animals (I cannot count the number of Redwall books that I've read). There were some quite creative twists and surprises that I'm sure the intended audience wouldn't see coming. All together enjoyable.
My only major problem with the book was that the style of writing (intended to reflect it's Dickensean-homage, I imagine -- and you can see that I'm doing the same thing!) did not reflect the simplicity of the story. I feel that the languag More...
My only major problem with the book was that the style of writing (intended to reflect it's Dickensean-homage, I imagine -- and you can see that I'm doing the same thing!) did not reflect the simplicity of the story. I feel that the languag More...
Feb 18, 2012
Kim
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I fell in love with this story that is set during Dickens's time in England. As a matter of fact Charles Dickens plays a minor role in this story. He has a huge writer's block and can't figure out how to start his one book GREAT EXPECTATIONS. He observes the coming and goings of the inn and can't help but think there's something more to the buck tooth mouse and cat.
Enter a cat that loves cheese and a mouse that can read/write plus a mystery on what is happening to the Cheshire chees More...
Feb 01, 2012
Jill
rated it:
How can you not like a book where the cat who is supposed to be catching mice likes cheese, and the mouse likes sugar and they become fast friends surrounded by all sorts of quirky characters including a raven and Mr. Dickens himself. It's playful and super entertaining. I'm going to suggested it to my 10 year old, but a middle school level book. Entertaining for adults if you like jane austin and witty books like that...plus, I give 4 stars to a book that uses the word "Boiled-ded" wh
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Nov 10, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Set in Victorian England this is a fun book portraying the unlikely friendship between a cat and a mouse.
Skilley is a street cat who find out about the mice infestation in a shop that sells cheese and figures out a way to be the cat to take care of the problem. He meets a mouse named Pip and they find a way to cooperate and both of them are able to meet their unique needs.
This book is story of friendship, loyalty, and forgiveness. In the case of Charles Dickens, it help More...
Skilley is a street cat who find out about the mice infestation in a shop that sells cheese and figures out a way to be the cat to take care of the problem. He meets a mouse named Pip and they find a way to cooperate and both of them are able to meet their unique needs.
This book is story of friendship, loyalty, and forgiveness. In the case of Charles Dickens, it help More...
Feb 14, 2012
Cordelia
rated it:
I enjoyed this little tale. The inclusion of Mr. Shakespeare made it quite entertaining, especially with his attitude toward what was going on in the inn, and everyone else seemed to be clueless about it.
The villains in the story were quite ruthless, which gave it an air of foreboding, but in a way that even young readers would find entertaining and somewhat lighthearted. Although, I felt a little squeamish at times with the fate of many of the residents.
Overall, an enjoy More...
The villains in the story were quite ruthless, which gave it an air of foreboding, but in a way that even young readers would find entertaining and somewhat lighthearted. Although, I felt a little squeamish at times with the fate of many of the residents.
Overall, an enjoy More...
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Feb 07, 2012
Angela
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I don't know why I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned middle grade novel, but I am. This is a really good one. I listened to the Audiobook, which was done very well. In some ways, it's the second oldest story there is --a cat and mouse game where the cat and mouse are friends. In other ways, the classic literature references/setting/appeal are immense.
Highly recommended for discriminating readers of MG fiction, fans of DiCamillo's Despereaux and all the truly classic "animal More...
Highly recommended for discriminating readers of MG fiction, fans of DiCamillo's Despereaux and all the truly classic "animal More...
