Jenny and the Cat Club: A Collection of Favorite Stories about Jenny Linsky

Sharing "cat stories" is a regular part of my interactions with friends, so I was purr-fectly pleased when a friend gifted me this book. The weather in Pittsburgh has been miserable, and Jenny and the Cat Club was an enchanting diversion while settled on the couch with a blanket, a cup of tea, and the two indoor felines. Cozy!

Jenny is a bit of an introverted kitty, prone to hiding and peeking before taking action, but thanks to her human, Captain Tinker, she makes friends with the neighborhood clowder and proceeds to have plenty of 1940s-era Greenwich Village adventures. A run-in with a pack of ne'er-do-well dogs should come as no surprise.

If you love the kitties and have no shortage of your own "cat stories," you'll find this show more collection highly entertaining.

Added bonus: If you read Amor Towles' Rules of Civility and wondered what happened to Tinker Grey after leaving his high-flying life to work on the docks, perhaps you'll agree with me that this is where he ultimately landed. show less

As a child I absolutely adored Esther Averill's The Fire Cat, a poignant early-reader in which a street cat named Pickles found his purpose in life. But it was not until the New York Review Children's Collection began reprinting them that I was aware that Averill had written many stories detailing the adventures of the cats - Pickles among them - who lived in New York City's Greenwich Village. How sad that I didn't know about Jenny Linsky as a child, but how wonderful that this omission is finally being corrected! Viva NYRCC!

Jenny and the Cat Club, first published in 1944, contains five short stories detailing the adventures of shy Jenny Linsky, a little black cat who belongs to Captain Tinker, and who always wears a distinctive red show more scarf. In The Cat Club, Jenny overcomes her shyness and discovers her "special gift." In Jenny's First Party, Jenny, Pickles and Florio find their way to a dance party. In When Jenny Lost Her Scarf Jenny's precious red scarf is stolen by Rob the Robber dog. In Jenny's Adopted Brothers Jenny convinces Captain Tinker to rescue the homeless Checkers and Edward. And finally, in How the Brothers Joined the Cat Club, Jenny conquers her jealousy, and helps her new brothers join the club...

This was a wonderful collection of stories, and should prove entertaining for chapter-book readers who love animal stories. Heartwarming and very satisfying, the story of Jenny - a shy little cat who needs a little help sometimes, but who has a good heart, and always does the best she can - offers the reader some simple truths, clothed in a gentle story. And of course, Averill's illustrations are adorable... show less

Jenny and the Cat Club by Ester Averill is the story of how Jenny came to join the cat club. The stories were originally published together in 1973 and reissued in 2011.

I think if I ever adopt a female black cat, I'll have to name her Jenny Linksy. She is my favorite cat character from esther Averill's series of books about a Cat Club in Greenwich Village. I first met her and her friends through Hotel Cat — the book that also has the honor of being my first checked out library book after moving to our new home in the Hayward Hills.

Back then, Hotel Cat was the only book available because the others had fallen out of print and the library only had the last copy in the series. Since then, the New York Review has reissued most of the show more series (except for the prequel picture book, The Fire Cat). The entire collection is well worth purchasing for any cat loving child — or any child who suffers from shyness but craves adventures.

Nearly every page has one of Averill's delightful illustrations — black and white, save for a splash of red. The red is usually saved for the thing that delights the cat the most. So for Jenny, it's her scarf. For her brother, it's a red ball. And so forth.

Jenny and the Cat Club includes short tales about Jenny Linksy. She is adopted by Captain Tinker who makes her a red scarf to boost her self confidence. She encounters the Cat Club and desperately wants to learn a talent so she can join them. Later, Jenny becomes a sister to a pair of homeless cats and goes through some understandable moments of jealousy. show less

I read this book as a little kid (elementary school), and forty-odd years later, I still remember it with much love. Since Jenny is a female cat, I suspect boys might have a harder time getting into this book than girls would -- still, the other cats are a mix of male and female, and the plots/situations could appeal to both genders.

~bint

The Cat Club stories were a hit with my 3 1/2 year old, who is just learning to sit through chapter books. The stories are peppered with adorable illustrations which helped hold his interest and the language and content wasn't too much for him, so it's a great first chapter book for a preschooler. The stories are simple, yes, but that's why they're great: Jenny and her adventures are mainly about the kinds of feelings humans deal with every day, like jealousy, fear, and shyness.

I read this to my daughter when she was 5; now she read it herself at 6. She loves this story. It's cute and about animals, which all kids love, but has more depth and has more mature themes than many "animal books". I think it has some great lessons about including and accepting others.

There are only 3 stories left in our huge collection of the Best Children's Books of the 20th Century, from which we've been pulling stories at bedtime sporadically since Morgan was 2. Last night, we decided to finish it off. Now, Morgan is crazy about cats. However, we both felt this was the most pointless, boring, and poorly written piece of literature that we have ever seen. We had to force ourselves to finish just so that we can say we've finished out the whole collection, but had more fun demonstrating our boredom with monotone voices, eye-rolling, and mime-gagging than anything else. Ugh! I don't recommend this, even to kids who love cats!