A
Dickens of a Tale
By Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright
Synopsis:
Skilley,
an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard
life dodging fishwives brooms and carriage wheels and trade his damp
alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. When he learns that
the innkeeper is looking for a new mouser, Skilley comes up with an
audacious scheme to install himself in the famous tavern.
Once
established in the inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, the
intelligent mouse-resident, and his fellow mice. Skilley protects the
mice and the mice in turn give to Skilley the delectable Cheshire
cheese of the inn. Thus begins a most unlikely alliance and
friendship
The
cat and mouse design a plan to restore Maldwyn wounded raven and
faithful guard in the service of Queen Victoria to his rightful place
in The Tower, but first they must contend with a tyrannical cook, a
mouse-despising barmaid, and an evil tomcat named Pinch. Will the
famous author suffering from serious writer s block who visits the
Cheshire Cheese pub each day be able to help?
The
first line reads: “He was the best of toms. He was the worst of
toms.” That alone got me to read the book!
Why
did I read this book again?
I
actually met one of the authors of this novel, and his enticement of
a cheese eating cat, a literate mouse and Charles Dickens struggling
to write A Tale of Two Cities all hanging out at the same inn
hooked me.
5
out of 5
Characters
Skilley
the cheese eating cat is great! Pip the little mouse who figures out
how two read and write is charming, the villainous, orange Pinch
gives all cats a bad name, and poor Charles Dickens gets distracted
by all of their drama. Yes, I liked the characters. This is Middle
Grade, so no one is extremely fleshed out, but the relationship
between them all is fun.
4
out of 5
Did
I care what happened?
Every
time I see an orange cat I glare at it and wonder if it has been
attacking any royal ravens recently. And I'm totally craving cheese
right now.
4
out of 5
Plot
Holes
The
story was sound. It's charming, intense and fun enough language to
keep me sucked in. Although if you don't approve of literate mice or
angry ravens, don't read this book.
4
out of 5
How
many times did I yawn?
Once,
but it was Sunday afternoon...
The
story isn't terribly fast paced, but the chapters of the book are
short and punchy, which kept my attention. And there are cute
illustrations interspersed throughout the text
4
out of 5
Cool
Factor
While
the most action that went on in this book was a cat vs cat vs raven
fight, I'd have to say that all of the geeky, writers references were
well worth it. And I'm certain I missed a bunch of them.
Kids,
if they enjoy animal tales, will like this. It's beautifully written
and would be great to read aloud.
4
out of 5
The
End
The
end was great. You have to see it to get it.
5
out of 5
Overall
Enjoyment
4
out of 5
Score=
34
That's
a Brown Belt!
1 comment:
Sounds like my kind of book. You also might like Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.
Similar storyline in a fantasy setting. And of course, very funny.
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