What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
Carbonel
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. Old YA with talking cats, witches, mystery [s]
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Hmm, you reminded me of Ruth Chew's books. But are these a first book and sequel with the same characters?
Yes, same characters. I'd forgotten about Ruth Chew though, that might be something else to look at.
"Carbonel, King of the Cats".The Kingdom of Carbonel
by Barbara Sleigh
The delightful, innocent, humorous fantasy of a talking royal cat and the children he adopts into his adventures makes ... Through the old witch Cantrip, the children find the means to not only hear Carbonel talking again but every other ...
Carbonel, the King of the Cats by Barbara Sleigh
The Kingdom of Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh
Carbonel and Calidor by Barbara Sleigh
Carbonel: the prince of catsISBN 0141319739
When Rosemary buys an old broomstick and a black cat at the market, she has no idea that the broomstick is a witch's broomstick, and that the cat is a magical Royal Cat. Rosemary is determined to help Carbonel return to his kingdom, but first she must undo the wicked witch's spell . . .
Looks like Carbonel: the prince of cats is the British edition. And I think I'll read it as my public library has it. Never read it before (or come across a copy). Glad to have helped solve it so quickly!
Kim wrote: "I could kiss you! :) Thanks very much, hah and there's even a third one. Lovely."
Ditto to what Kim wrote! Read "The Kingdom of Carbonel" in the late fifties and never forgot it. Had no idea of the title, author, or that it was the second in a series! Getting all this information is like finding a lost treasure. Thank you all.


There were actually (at least) two books, and I read them no later than 1982. There may have been more after those two, but junior high didn't carry those particular books. Please bear with me, my memory is sketchy. In the first one, two kids get a witch's broom and as long as they hold it, they can hear what cats say, specifically one particular one. I think the cat was royalty of some sort, and...again, I think...there were kittens that had been abducted that the kids had to help rescue. The broom kept dropping bits of straw off the end, too, when they flew on it.
In the second book, they wound up getting a potion at the pharmacy that allowed them to hear the cats. I don't remember what the main plot was, but the guy that doled it out for them wound up having problems because he got some on his thumb, then licked it as he turned pages. Very incidental part, just stayed with me. And at the end (view spoiler)[the kids found that two witches were to blame for whatever the crisis was, and somehow got them to undo their magic, but had to give up the talking-animals potion for their own part, so they lost the ability to talk to the cat again (like they did in the first book when all the straw fell out of the broom) (hide spoiler)].
Kind of a rambling post, but that's about all I can remember. I've got several books that I want to revisit and introduce my kids to, this is one of them. Thanks for helping.