The Cat's Tale: Why the Years Are Named for Animals

by Doris Orgel, Meilo So (Illustrator)

WHY ARE THE YEARS IN THE CHINESE CALENDAR NAMED AFTER ANIMALS? A young girl and her grandmother learn that being far apart in years doesn’t mean they have nothing in common. Mao the cat and her master, Willow, are less than thrilled when Willow’s grandmother, her Nai-Nai, carelessly omits the important role of Cat from her story. Mao proceeds to set the record straight. A beautiful story unravels and we fi nd out why there is no Year of the Cat and how the circle of years moves on. Told through pictures that are reminiscent of the ancient Chinese masters and yet boldly alive, THE CAT’S TALE is a stellar read-aloud.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published December 23, 2008

About the author

Doris Orgel is a children's writer. She was born in Vienna, Austria. As a child, she and her family fled to Yugoslavia and finally the U.S. during the rise of the Nazi party in Europe. She attended Radcliffe College from 1946 too 1948, and graduated cum laude from Barnard College in 1950.

In her career, Ms. Orgel has written and translated several fairy and folk tales, as well as served as a translator for other authors. Prior to her work as a children's writer, Orgel was in magazine and book publishing. Her first original book, Sarah’s Room (1963) was published under the pseudonym Doris Adelberg. It was also republished in England and in Switzerland in German. In 1960, Ms. Orgel received the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for her translation of Willhelm Hauff's Dwarf Long-Nose (1960). Her book The Devil in Vienna (1978) received a Phoenix Award Honor in 1998. Ms. Orgel has also worked as a children’s book reviewer for "The New York Times".

She is married to Dr. Shelley Orgel; has three children: Paul, Laura, and Jeremy; two daughters-in-law: Sharon Lamb and Ling Chen Orgel; three grandchildren: Willy, Jennifer, and Julian; and three granddogs: Woof, Buster, and Otto. She lives in New York City.


For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/doris-orgel

Reviews

[Karina Espinales · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a folktale. It explains the Chinese calendar and how the order of the animals was selected. The book includes learning lessons such as cheating, helping others, and losing and winning. It can be applied to the children’s learning because they can predict which animal will get to the end of the stream first like competition. The book also explains why cats do not like mice as a secret Chinese folktale. The illustrations are vibrant in color and design which really paint the Chinese culture.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grandmother tells her granddaughter a story of how the Chinese Zodiac years came to be named after animals. This would be good to use in elementary classrooms when studying about Chinese New Year.

(I was a little annoyed at the girl's treatment of her grandmother, but we all treat our family ugly sometimes, I guess.)

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Explanation of why the eyars are named for animals is told
through a grandmother's then a cat's voice to a young girl.
I found the story and voices confusing; the illustrations are fresh and colorful vivid watercolor and pen and ink.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, yeah, five stars for the art. I love the modern Chinese people. Four stars for the way the story is told, with the frame, and the graceful language (Orgel, of course), the wit.... Three stars for the story itself, because I cannot understand why Nai Nai bribed Willow to make up with her, instead of teaching Willow that she was being bratty.

What's most interesting about the art, imo, is that it is obviously influenced by Chinese tradition, but it also reminds me very much of Ukrainian art. Fans of Patricia Polacco and of pysanky will probably love it. I also appreciate the details like the grandmother's outfit, and the pout on Willow's face, for example.

[Tywanna Robb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a folk tale that explains the Chinese calendar. It is told by a grandmother to her granddaughter.The Chinese years are named after animals so this story explained why each animal was selected to represent a certain year.

As an upcoming teacher, I could use this text to topics like sharing, and teaching students about the Chinese New Year.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusingly, Moira wanted to read this one, but not one of the traditional stories about how the Zodiac race, so I kept having to stop and explain things to her. I thought this one could have been better, the cat seemed a little annoying.

[Katie Logonauts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This final take on the Chinese zodiac race story gives a different point-of-view, as the story-within-the-story is the cat relating her version of the race event. The frame story is also an important one about family and misunderstandings.

[Danica Midlil · Rating 1 out of 5]

That's a lot of really tiny text for a book with a main character who's four. Not so clear on who the intended audience is here...

[Remy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like how this story is sort of told from a cat’s perspective. But it really bothers me that the cat and grandmother are referred to using the same words that they represent in mandarin (Nainai->grandmother, and Mao->cat), yet the grandmother supposedly can’t read Chinese characters??!?
Otherwise it was a refreshing and unique retelling of a classic tale.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cat gets angry when Nai Nai leaves him out of the story about the cycle of Chinese years. Cat tells the little girl the long story of a race between the animals to determine the order of the year. Cat never finishes the race, so there is no year of the cat. Rat cheats to win the race, which makes Cat and Rat enemies. After Cat finishes the story, Nai Nai tucks them into bed. The book is heavy on text and may be long for some children. The story line also gets complicated, which may confuse some children. The book would be appropriate for teaching new vocabulary words.