Mr. McGratt and the Ornery Cat

by Marilyn Helmer

When a stray cat with ideas of his own adopts Mr. McGratt, Mr. McGratt tries to find the cat another home, but while things never quite work out the way he planned, each time the cat comes back, Mr. McGratt's circumstances have gotten better. Reprint.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Gail Barge]

Students will love the silly characters of Mr. McGratt and his Ornery cat. Not to mention, the word ornery would be an excellent challenge vocab word. The repetition of the story would be a good book for predicting with students. The silly antics of the cat will crack young students up!

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harriet goes through cycles of reading. Recently she went through an all princesses all the time phase. Then she went through a Christmas and Hanukkah in July phase. Now she seems to be returning to her roots: cats.

One of her recent cat book choices from the library was Mr. McGratt and the Ornery Cat by Marilyn Helmer. It's one of those "and the cat came back" stories (without the nuclear blast at the end).

Mr. McGratt wants to be left alone. He doesn't the annoying kid going through his pumpkin patch. He doesn't want the neighbor dog to eat his paper. And he certainly doesn't want a cat.

But you know cats. They pick people and often the very person who swears up and down he's not a cat person. Like Jack in Hate That Cat, Mr. McGratt doesn't want a cat. He hates the ornery cat who has picked him and his home.

And yet when the cat is there, the boy doesn't ruin his pumpkins and the dog has stopped eating his newspaper. Maybe, just maybe, the ornery cat is a useful cat. And maybe, just maybe, Mr. McGratt can change his mind and love that cat after all.

It's a cute book. Harriet and I both liked the story. The artwork was a little off for my tastes but the humor and good natured message more than makes up for it. It's an easy enough book to read that after I read to Harriet once, she re-read it to herself a couple more times before we returned it to the library.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. McGratt has a variety of problems - starlings pecking his pears, a neighbor dog shredding his newspaper, and a boy cutting through his pumpkin patch. His most recent problem is the arrival of what he terms an "ornery" cat. Several people come by and admire the cat and he gives the cat to each of them, but without fail, in a couple days, the cat is back. In the end Mr. McGratt starts to warm to the cat (and the fact that his other problems seem to disappear with the cat around).

Nice illustration - though it seems like you're looking at them through a screen door.

[Katie Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute book. This is a cute book to read to children to show them that things that we complain about are probably not that bad, they might even be helpful.