The Blue Cat of Castle Town

A poetic fable set in antebellum Vermont. The 'plot' is an episodic adventure of the quest of a special cat to find its own hearth.

It's got a bit in common, more than just a sentient cat, with some of the works by Elizabeth Coatsworth in that there are 'songs' every so often. I'm enjoying it, but finding it difficult to immerse myself in it, having a need to take a break every dozen pages or so. But it does give me things to think about in those breaks. And there are plenty of delightful pictures.

I'm about 1/2-way and impressed with the cat's feelings after he escape's from Hyde's 'mansion.' The cat feels pity for this rich, powerful, and grasping man, in much the same way that I feel pity for Trump. One doesn't encounter subtle show more perspectives on 'villains' in children's books very often....

The story is told with grace and charm. But I'm not sure I'm following along well. A motto is oft-repeated: "Beauty and peace and content." Well, what does that mean? Shouldn't it be 'contentment?' And aren't Peace and Content almost synonymous, making the motto awkwardly a near-redundancy?
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Just finished. And learned that Castletown is real, as are all the named human characters and their works of beauty.... Wow.

I do recommend this Newbery Honor and am grateful to Wiscat to letting me read it. show less

The BLUE CAT is an engaging story of how a cat enlightens and saves a Vermont town with his River Song.

Although his journey is well predicted from the start, unpredictable surprises keep it lively and magical,
notably with the splendid woodcut illustrations.

The BLUE CAT searches for his own hearth while teaching his purring River Song.

Beauty. Peace. Content.

Fewer mouse deaths would have been welcome.

How did I miss this book when I was younger? Today's readers can thank Dover Publications for bringing this Newbery Honor book back into print. It's the story of a blue cat who must teach his song to others to find his place on a hearth. His song is the song of the river. He wanders around Castle Town, Vermont where he witnesses village life. It's from a simpler time and place. It's a place where spinning wheels and weaving still exist. It's a place where the local carpenter still feels the need to do his best work on the pulpit in the Lord's house, even if it means losing his $1.50 in daily wages or using some of his savings even with a baby on the way. This book gave me a sense of that time and place, and I loved it. The illustrations show more by Janice Holland were well-done. I received an electronic advance review copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes. show less

The story if the blue cat featured in a carpet embroidered by Zeruah Guernsey Caswell and now hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
An interesting folk story but I found this way to moralistic (and a little weird) for my taste. It is not that the morals the story promotes are bad, it is just the way they are taught. Maybe that was the problem. I felt like I was being taught morals (aka hit over the head with the morals) instead of the morals being intuitively learned through the story telling. There was zero subtlety in this story.

Janice Holland's illustrations are really delightful. They really make the story. A sweet old fashioned tale. I was thrilled to find a GoodReads member had posted the link to the Met's illustration of the rug that inspired the book. I'll repost it here in case others missed it... https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10013955