Four uncommon kittens and their mother live in an alley (Thelma, Roger, James, Harriett, and Mrs. Jane Tabbey). She loves them dearly and wants them to fly someplace better. They find a forest, it becomes just as dangerous as the city. Harriett finds the right kind of people, and her siblings follow her to meet them. A young girl and her brother promise to care for and protect the winged cats. Lovely illustrations scattered throughout the text. ( )

Catwings is a sweet little tale of a family of cats that are born with wings. Mrs. Tabby, their mother, does not know why her four children have wings. Neighbors speculated that their father was a “fly by night”, but Mrs. Tabby attributes it to a dream she had before they were born. Her dream was that she and her family were able to fly away from the terrible neighborhood where they reside. Their slums were filled with hungry dogs, fierce rats, and many “shoes and boots walking” (people). After Mrs. Tabby receives a marriage proposal she sends her four children off to fly away –far away. Colorful painterly illustrations complement the text as the flying cats seek a new life in a better place. They find home in a tree in the forest, but are still plagued by the noise of fighting raccoons, are chased by coyotes and harassed by an owl. Along with all this hardship, they find gentle “hands” of two children who feed and pet them. This succinct book would make a great read aloud for elementary school children, combing a touch of fantasy with a lesson in the importance of kindness to animals. ( )

I should note that I've reviewed all four Catwings books in the same post.

Basic Reason for Beginning: Well… My introduction to Le Guin was The Beginning Place, which is not the best book to start with. I liked the prose style, but not so much the story. When I saw she’d written stories about cats with wings, aimed at children… Suffice to say that I thought “Bingo! Perfect way to get a more enjoyable introduction to Le Guin’s works.”
Basic Reason for Finishing: I went SQUEE a lot in the half hour it took to read the lot of these.
Texture: Uhm… Well… I was quite busy going squee. Beyond that it feels a little like a warm blanket that’s comfortable in some spots and a little scruffy in others, I suppose best described it.

Full review here.

Rereadability: Oh, very high. Not because there are countless things more to get from the story — which I’m sure there might be for readers more inclined to read for that — but because of the sheer loveliness of the books.
Recommendation: I’d recommend these to anyone who loves cats, winged creatures, or Le Guin and to anyone who has children or is still a child at heart. They are utterly lovely books. ( )

A short chapter book, where 4 cats (sisters and brothers) are born with wings that allow them to escape the dangers of the city to go live in the country. Scholastic says reading level 3, ages 7-10.

This story didn't excite me very much. The individual cats were never defined enough so I knew one from another, and I thought the author's style of writing rather dull. I especially did not like that the cats became dependent on humans in the end for their own safety and well-being. I would have rather the cats find their own solution to their problem, maybe convince the other animals that their gift (their wings) could somehow benefit everyone.

A good book for the transition from picture books and beginning readers to chapter books and novels, this text by LeGuin with illustrations by Schmeicher offers four concise chapters about a unique litter of cats that venture away from the city to search for a home. With many different adventures, this story has an overall theme of the need to find a safe place to call home. The illustrations don't offer much in the way of narrative, but reinforce the text for readers not quite ready to leave out illustrations all together. The text is polished and quality shows from this underappreciated master when the catwings venture away from the alley:
"The sun set. The city lights came on, long strings and chains of lights below them, stretching out towards darkness. Towards darkness they flew, and at last, when around them and under everything was dark except for one light twinkling over the hill, they descended slowly from the air and landed on the ground."
This is a wonderful little book that may find a place in someone's heart for years. The adventures continue in three more stories: Alexander and the Catwings, Catwings return, and Jane on her own: A Catwings tale.