Catwings

Cats! With wings!

I had no idea that Le Guin had written children’s books. This one was included in my lovely Le Guin Humble Bundle, together with its sequels. So now I know.

Four kittens are born with wings. ”Maybe they have wings because I dreamed, before they were born, that I could fly away from this neighborhood.”

I find the idea of flying cats both amusing and uncomfortable (especially the latter, if you are a bird).

If you are a kitten with wings, you can fly away from vicious dogs. You can fly away from the dangerous city. What does your new life have in store for you?

This story is whimsical, lovely, and touching, with dark undertones. The illustrations are gorgeous.

My favourite quote: ”The fish in the creek said nothing. show more Fish never do. Few people know what fish think about injustice, or anything else.” show less

Catwings is a brilliant, slowly told story. In short poetic sentences, that are completely accessible to children, this modern fairy tale flows quietly to its happy ending. You can imagine Ursula LeGuin telling it to a group of second and third graders gathered closely around her. The voice in the book is full of warmth, wisdom and love. I see this book as a metaphor for how we humans grow up and are send out into the world, despite the fact that this world is not always safe and cozy. Almost unconsciously children will remember their first day in school, and how they all had to overcome obstacles, find new friends and carve themselves a niche in this new community. Psychologically this book can be very soothing to a child.

A short and sweet beginning chapter book about some cats that were born with wings.
Their mother is afraid for them in the city alley they were born in- and encourages them to learn to use their wings and fly away.
The four cats fly to the forest and begin to learn how to survive on their own.
This book was originally published in the 80's. This book could open up discussion about prejudice and how we should treat people that are different than us.
I want to read more of the series, even though it was meant for very young children.

A short story of a mother cat whose litter of four kittens is born with wings; once they're big enough, she encourages them to fly away from their city to somewhere safer. They make it to the woods, where they must learn to fit into the ecological system - and find some human friends.

Beautifully detailed illustrations, subtly colored.

Few people know what fish think about injustice, or anything else. (19)

Owl is not a quick thinker. She is a long thinker. (20)

After recently reading what I at first considered to be my first Ursula K. Le Guin work, I was reminded of the fact that I was quite wrong... and that as a child, I had actually loved two Le Guin books, though that may have been because they included the young-Alana prerequisite for any good book: cats.

Catwings focuses on the Tabby family, or rather, the four children of Mrs. Jane Tabby. Without a father and with their home in a neighborhood that was growing worse, Mrs. Jane Tabby has her paws full and so there was no real time to worry much about the fact that her children had wings. There comes a point when Mrs. Tabby believes that her children need to leave and find a better life for themselves, and so she insists that they use show more their wings to fly away and do just that. She is left behind, newly engaged to a good tomcat, and while her words are a bit brusque, no one doubts that all Mrs. Tabby wants is the best life possible for her children. So Thelma, Roger, James, and Harriet fly into the country, where they make a life for themselves, but learn that life can be just as dangerous there as it was in the city. Ultimately, they befriend two human children who understand that they can never tell anyone about the flying cats or everyone would try to trap them. Instead, they give the cats a home in the top of their family's barn and the story ends happily with the semi-domestication of the flying cats.

Catwings Returns focuses primarily on James and Harriet, who decide that they wish to visit their mother in the old neighborhood, and so they leave their siblings in the country for what is supposed to be a simple visit. (Roger and Thelma believe the children they have befriended would be far too worried if everyone left, so they stay behind.) Of course, when James and Harrier arrive, they find that construction crews are demolishing the neighborhood, their mother is nowhere to be found, and their attention is caught by a mewing sound -- which turns out to be a black winged kitten in a condemned building. With patience, they befriend the kitten (who clearly must be their mother's kitten, they believe, given the wings) and manage to save him in the knick of time from the encroaching bulldozers. They find Mrs. Jane Tabby in a rooftop garden, their mother having recently been taken in by an old woman after the first bulldozers drove her from the neighborhood. Her husband was away on business (and she seems little concerned with his loss) and she cannot get down from the rooftop garden, but now that she knows her kitten is safe, Mrs. Jane Tabby is perfectly content to stay right where she is -- provided James and Harriet take her kitten with them to the country. They do so and the kitten is named Jane, happy in her new country surroundings with her older siblings.

There were two other books in the Catwings Collection -- named Marvelous Alexander and the Catwings and Jane on her Own -- but they never really captured me the way the first two did. At the time, I was charmed by the drawings and, let's face it, any story that featured kitties. Now that I'm older and know a bit more about Le Guin's work, I find them to be embedded with deeper concepts about parenthood, survival, independence, and trust. With Le Guin's interest in gender roles, it's unsurprising that we have a strong single mother and a similarly strong female leader in Thelma. The dangers of the world are quite present, both in the city and the country, and Le Guin is not afraid to make those manifest in attacks on the individuals and long-term repercussions.

I hadn't been that keen on picking up another Le Guin book after reading a series of her stories for adults, but this re-read of Catwings may have actually won her another chance. It's all a bit deeper than the simple story of flying cats and touches upon ideas of growing up and finding one's own way in the world (though there's still a healthy reliance on family). Catwings: not just for kitty-obsessed kids anymore. Though if you have one of those, then you should definitely introduce them to Mrs. Tabby and her children. show less

Nice early reader teaching consequences and trust. ' "Now we know how little birds feel," said Thelma, grimly.'
The opening chapter portrays the danger, worry, & hunger associated with life on the streets. the voice of the mother is perfect. When the kittens make it to the country, they find it paradisical but also knew that every place was dangerous.
We hear the perspectives of the birds, who resent the kittens ability to fly. We don't hear from the fish: "The fish in the creek said nothing. Fish never do. Few people know what fish think about injustice, or anything else." And then there is Owl who figures out how to put limits on the kittens hunting. "Owl is not a quick thinker. She is a long thinker."
It ends with 2 children from a show more nearby farm who know how to befriend kittens. show less

I was fortunate enough to listen to the late Ursula K. LeGuin read this children’s book herself, the debut in a series in which four wingéd tabby siblings make their way in the world and find a new home. Quite different than her usual sci-fi fare, but I liked it so much that I can’t wait to get to the sequels.