SOLVED. Cat Who Tells Stories [s]

[Jesse]

I read this book when I was about thirteen. In this book, a cat walks around a tree and tells two stories.

In the first story, a slave woman has a baby and doesn't want her baby to grow up a slave so, when a stranger comes in and offers to raise her child for her, she gives up her baby. Then stranger gives the woman a snowbaby that looks like a dead baby, so that she can tell everyone that the baby froze to death. When she wakes up the servant woman looks at the snowbaby and wonders if that really happened or if it was all just a dream.

In the second story, a mean king holds a contest to choose his wife. He forces all of the eligible girls and woman to participate. None of them want to win because they don't like him.

[Tab]

How many years ago did you read this book? Was it a picture book? Was it geared towards adults, teens, or children?

Remember anything about the cover?

[Jesse]

I read it about five years ago, but I don't think it was a new book at the time. I think it was a novella, and I don't remember it having pictures. It appeared to be geared towards teenagers and older kids. I think the cover had a grey cat on it, but I'm not sure.

[Jesse]

I'm still looking for this book.

[Jesse]

I am still looking for this book.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Why would the servant woman's baby end up a slave? The kind of slave that existed in America, or the kind from the ancient world?

[Jesse]

I don't remember what time period this book took place in, or where, but I do not think it was in America.

[Tab]

This may be a stretch because it doesn't seem like two separate stories but The Ghost Drum (Ghost World #1)


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

A longer description:In a magical place there is a cat, and this is the tale she tells. It is the story of Chingis, a Woman of Power, a most gifted shaman who lives in a house which runs on the legs of a chicken. It is the story of Safa, the Czar's son, who has spent his entire life in a windowless room and knows nothing of the sky or trees, or even the world of men. It is the story of how these two most lonely souls bond together to fight their most fearful and fearing enemies. Price has a strong understanding of folklore and has previously collected some unusual and lesser-known European tales ( Ghost at Large Faber, 1984). n this novel she weaves together many common folkloric themes into an original story which is both charmingly new and hauntingly familiar. From the very first page readers are drawn into a northern land where winter is a cold half year of darkness, a land where a slave woman would willingly give her infant daughter to a witch so that she may be free, and where a cruel king could imprison his newborn son.

[Jesse]

It's not it, although it does have some similar elements. Thank you for trying.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Of Cats and Men: Stories?



"Cunning felines help young women negotiate the world of relationships and romance as they discover their individual fears, passions, and truths."

[Jesse]

No, but thanks for trying.

[Kate]

I read a book as a child about a ghost cat who told stories from each of her nine lives. I don't remember if this specific story is in it. It's a long shot, but is it The Ghost of Opalina?

[Jesse]

No, but thanks for trying.

[Bahar]

Could it have been The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel

The cat Mehitabel tells her friend Archy the cockroach stories about her past lives (when she was a human). There are a lot of different stories, and I don't remember the two you mentioned, but it might be worth a try.

[Jesse]

No, but thank you for trying.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Catfantastic Catfantastic II Catfantastic IV Catfantastic III Catfantastic V perhaps one of the stories in one of this series? (Sorry, it's been a really, really, REALLY long time since I read these, so don't remember if your story is in any of them or not.)

[Jesse]

Not it, but thanks for trying.

[Jesse]

I am still looking for this book.

[Tab]

Jesse, were those the only 2 stories the cat told or were there more?

[Jesse]

I think it was just those two.

[Jesse]

I am still looking for this book.

[Jesse]

bump

[Sasha]

Maybe you read a story that's based on russian fairy tales? Ruslan and Ludmila is the classic story that starts with a cat narrating the tale. He's chained to a tree with a golden chain, and he walks around the tree, captivating the audience with his voice. I'm not familiar with the exact stories you're describing, but maybe it's something to go on.

[Ayshe]

Are you completely sure it's not The Ghost Drum? I found this and I would have sworn that's your first tale.

[Jesse]

Actually, I think it is The Ghost Drum. I read the reviews and it didn't sound like the right one, but the sample chapter was definitely the first story.