Cat on the Hill

by Michael Foreman

Autumn is a lonely and cold time for a stray cat in Cornwall after the hum of the summer, and winter is worse still. Most of all though, it is a hungry time. Even for an ex-ship's cat, life is a struggle, with fierce harbor cats and a yappy dog, all of whom chase him out of the village, away from its pavements of tempting dropped chips and tasty mackerel. The chapel on the hill becomes a safe haven for a while. But then, in the depths of winter, the yappy dog and his friends, the harbor boy, the donkey, and the horse come up the hill—bearing sausage! One would almost think it was Christmas. This new and magical incarnation of Cornwall in winter features a guest return of the successful Sinbad, the lifesaving dog.

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas, Cats

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Michael has worked on magazines, book jackets, animated films, TV adverts, and even for the police, sketching criminals described by witnesses. As well as illustrating many of his own books, Michael has illustrated over a hundred books for authors such as Shakespeare, J. M. Barrie, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. Michael has travelled widely - to Africa, Japan, the Arctic Circle, China and Malaysia, the Himalayas, Siberia and New Zealand - to research his books. "I do a lot of research when I'm travelling - I find it thrilling to discover the particular 'art' of different landscapes and work them into a book. But I find I have to travel by myself, otherwise I'm constantly getting involved in other people's impressions of a place... I try to be invisible when I'm travelling, so I tend to listen in on conversations rather than participate in them - I just want to look and draw."

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once a sea cat, before his human captain became too old to care for him, a homeless feline lives on the hill overlooking a fishing village, surviving on the food that tourists share with him. When winter comes and visitors stop coming to the hill, the cat must venture down into the village, competing with the fierce local strays for scraps of food. After a particularly fruitless Christmas-time visit, in which he fails to find anything to eat, the cat retreats to his hill. Has he been forgotten, or is there one human, at least, who is aware of him and his needs...?

An engaging book, particularly for lovers of all things feline, Cat on the Hill features a heartwarming story of a cat who discovers that he has not been forgotten after all, and beautiful illustrations that are colorful and expressive. The cat's terror, in the scenes in which he flees before the town cats, is particularly well done. I admit that I was expecting the cat to find a home, and consider the conclusion, in which the fisherman's son shares some food with the cat on a cold winter night, to be a second-best outcome. That said, the conclusion was still quite moving, with the artwork creating almost a nativity scene, as the boy, dog, cat, horse and donkey all huddle together in a make-shift shelter that resembles the legendary stable in Bethlehem. Given the fact that Michael Foreman also wrote and illustrated Cat in the Manger , which tells the tale of the Nativity from the perspective of a cat, I have difficulty imagining that this artistic choice was accidental or unknowingly done, which begs the question: what does it mean that the cat takes the place of the Christ Child in this tableau?

An interesting and engaging book, one that will lead more thoughtful readers to ponder the meaning of the Christmas story, and its significance for human-animal relations, Cat on the Hill is a book I would like to recommend wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, the author's decision to include language objectionable in a picture-book aimed at younger children - the cat twice describes a local dog as 'that damned dog' - gives me pause. I wouldn't like to hear a six-year-old using that language, so it seems unfair to include it in a book aimed at a child of this age. While this would otherwise have been a four-star book for me, I deducted a star for the language issue. Without it, this is an outstanding book.

[Emma Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic children's book. My little one enjoyed it a lot, and it is much much better written than the other little kids books that are oversimplified and badly written. Listen to this last paragraph:
Bells ding-dong across the bay and the sea turns silver in the moonlight. My friends and I sit warm on our hill between all the stars of heaven and earth.
The author employs the same writing techniques that they would use to make adult books enjoyable, but still easy for kids to understand: lots of descriptive and varied words, sentence fluency and a real plot. Older kids will really appreciate this style of writing rather than cartoonish, simplistic stories that don't seem to have a clear plot or a real problem, which is what many children's books seem to be like nowadays. But even younger kids will just appreciate the way the words sound together, even if they don't quite get it.
Lastly, it has beautiful illustrations that match the writing style: serious and realistic, but very detailed and very well drawn. If you are sick of reading Dora the Explorer or Duck Goes Quack to your child, then I would strongly recommend this book; in fact, almost all of Michael Foreman's books.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bittersweet tale about a stray cat who experiences the good times and lean times at a seaside town. It's a good story, told from the cat's perspective and has a Christmas theme to it at the end of the tale.

One caveat, though, the author uses the word "damned" in the first page of the "Winter" section. I edited this to "darned" when I read it aloud to our girls because I didn't feel like explaining why there was a swear word in the book.

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

"That damned dog" charmed me. I hadn't previously thought about this, but there should be more picture books with mild profanity. Says the woman who really enjoys swearing and profanity. I suspect that many people who would not necessarily choose a book with such mildly salty language will nonetheless find themselves thinking fondly of this one in the end.

Library copy

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more. It evoked the changing seasons well and the hardships of being homeless. I didn’t like the first person narration though.

[Wetdryvac Wetdryvac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the art. Creeped out by the book. Love it anyway.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely story - about a stray cat through the seasons. Lovely pictures on every page and a small amount of text at the side. I loved it.

[katy p · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story with beautiful art work that has a calming palette 🎨

[Stina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #36 for 2016
Old Firehouse Books Summer Bingo Square: A book with pictures

I received this book as a gift from another BookCrosser at a convention. It is a sweet, extremely brief story told from a cat's perspective. The cat in question is a former ship's cat, and he is adjusting to the life of a landlubber now that his ship and captain are both too old for the sea. The cat experiences the changing seasons, ending with Christmas, so this is a nice little Christmas book with beautiful illustrations.

The writing style is a bit odd, though. I suppose I'm glad it's not all icky-sweet, but who uses the word "damned" in a kiddie book? Anyway, probably best to stick to sharing this with kids either not old enough to read (so you can substitute another word as you see fit) or old enough to appreciate the difference between "damned" and "darned" (or "silly" or "annoying" or whatever you may have selected as substitute text earlier).

[Taren Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The thing I liked about it was that it is shown in a cat's point of view, and how he experiences seasons.

[Shay · Rating 1 out of 5]

a good book