Jenny's Bedside Book

The Cat Club

by Esther Averill

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1959

About the author

Esther Averill (1902-1992) began her career as a storyteller drawing cartoons for her local newspaper. After graduating from Vassar College in 1923, she moved first to New York City and then to Paris, where she founded her own publishing company. The Domino Press introduced American readers to artists from all over the world, including Feodor Rojankovsky, who later won a Caldecott Award. In 1941, Esther Averill returned to the United States and found a job in the New York Public Library while continuing her work as a publisher. She wrote her first book about the red-scarfed, mild-mannered cat Jenny Linsky in 1944, modeling its heroine on her own shy cat. Esther Averill would eventually write twelve more tales about Miss Linsky and her friends (including the I Can Read Book, The Fire Cat), each of which was eagerly awaited by children all over the United States (and their parents, too).

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

They aren't particularly good picture books, but I had the Pickles I Can Read as a child, so I love them. It's like reading those horrible gothic novels mentioned in Northanger Abbey. They are so flawed, but you admire them just for getting out there and blazing a trail. And then you're astounded at Austen for being so really good, exceptionally good, amazingly good.
These aren't amazing, but they are pleasant, and sweet, and full of cats.

Library copies

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Radar whiskers? Really?

Interesting concept for a book - a regular Jenny story with longer stories embedded.