Charlotte Voake

Cat-lovers will adore this winsome picture-book about Ginger, a happily settled older cat who loves his comfortable life. A little girl who feeds him delicious meals, a lovely basket in which to curl up and nap - what more could he want? But then one day the little girl brings home a rambunctious gray kitten who insists on pouncing on him, eating his food, and (worst of all!) trying to join him in his basket. Ginger decides that enough is enough, and runs away. Then the little girl coaxes show more him home, providing separate food bowls, and separate beds. But will it work..?

Ginger is the first of Charlotte Voake's three picture-books to feature this feline hero - the subsequent two titles being Ginger Finds a Home and Ginger and the Mystery Visitor - and really delivers the goods! As already mentioned by some of the friends who recommended it to me (thanks Jackie, Kathryn, and Lisa!), anyone who has lived with cats will recognize the feline mannerisms and expressions here, from lazy contentment to outraged dignity. The conclusion of the tale is simply perfect! With such an engaging story, and such adorable illustrations (done in pen and watercolor), this is a picture-book that cat lovers young and old will enjoy! show less

It's true, I like any picture book where there's a strong possibility of a character getting eaten, but this one also shines in excellent vocabulary and a weirdly deadpan tone. Delightful!

The comfortable older cat whose territory is invaded by a rambunctious kitten in Charlotte Voake's Ginger is a kitten himself in this story, living a cold and hungry life: scrounging for food in garbage cans, sleeping in a patch of weeds, at the bottom of a garden. And then one day, he finds a heaping plate of food waiting for him in the garden, and is slowly won over by the little girl who put it there. Yes, Ginger himself finds a home, in this one...

I enjoyed this second book - a prequel show more of sorts - devoted to Ginger's story, not least because I'm a sucker for any tale in which a homeless and neglected feline finds a home and a family! I liked the gentleness of the narrative, and the non-preachy way that the author demonstrated the need for patience, when interacting with stray animals: that sometimes it will take a long time to win their trust and affection. The illustrations, done in watercolor and ink, were just as adorable as in the first! All in all, Ginger Finds a Home was a worthy follow-up to the first story, and enough to convince me to track down the third, Ginger and the Mystery Visitor. show less

As soon as I finished this book, I had a warm, happy feeling inside. This is such a sweet story about a cat that has a new family member come, the naughty kitten, and the cat is not happy about it at all. Eventually they become friends, however it takes a while for them to get to that point. I had the warm, happy feeling inside because I imagined this same thing happening to a child when they get a new little brother or sister. Even though this story is about two cats, it is still very show more relatable because there are plenty of times in our lives when we feel left out and not wanted. The writing throughout this book carries to multiple pages. For example, “He lived with a little girl who made him delicious meals (page 1) and gave him a beautiful baskets, where he would curl up… (page 2) and close his eyes (page 3). This aided with helping the words match the pictures. The reader sees the picture of the little girl holding the cat (page 1), then sees the picture of the cat in its basket (page 2), and then see’s the picture of the cat with its eyes closed and sleeping in the basket (page 3). The writing and words used in this book are very simple and easy to read. I read this whole book in about three minutes. The sentences may be long, but they are broken up throughout the pages. An example of a simple sentences from the story is “It wasn’t the same without Ginger”. This sentence is very easy to read and contains a few high frequency words such as “it”, “the”, and “same”. Unfortunately, the illustrations in this book do not fill the whole page, however they are still very beautiful. The illustrator makes up for this by making the illustrations small and detailed. You can even see the hair lines of the cats and the different patterns in the woven basket. This book pushes readers to think about a time when they have felt left out because of someone or something new. With that, the message of the story is to give that someone or something a chance (similar to the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”). There have been times when I have given someone I did not like a chance, and it actually worked out too. show less