The Mousehole Cat

Based on the old Cornish legend of Tom Bawcock's Eve, this lovely picture-book offers an engaging story of a cat, her human, and the fishing village they saved from starvation, one cold, blustery winter. Mowzer, a venerable matron cat, whose offspring could be found in many of the important establishments of the village of Mousehole, loved her human, Tom, who was gentle and loving, always provided her with plenty of fish, and knew just where she liked to be scratched (behind her left ear). When the Great Storm-Cat of the seas comes raging along the Cornish coast one bitterly cold winter, preventing all the fishing boats from going out, the residents of Mousehole - both human and feline - face starvation, Tom - too old to leave a show more grieving widow or parents, and with children grown and far away - decides that it is up to him to do something. Naturally, Mowzer - who knows that human are like mice, in the hands of the Storm-Cat - decides to go along, and her enchanted singing (and purring!) save the day...

This is just a lovely story, from beginning to end: well told, and very touching! I liked the humor of it, and the pathos. I appreciated the fact that Tom is Mowzer's human, rather than she being his cat (all cat-lovers will recognize the truth of this formulation), and warmed to the love between man and feline, man and villagers, and villagers and man. The conclusion, in which the residents of Mousehole line up with their lanterns, and put candles in their windows, to welcome the brave fisherman and cat home, had me tearing up. It is a custom still observed today, in Mousehole, on December 23rd, and The Mousehole Cat is a worthy tribute to that practice! Of course, in addition to the story itself, which is engrossing, the artwork is simply beautiful, and will keep the reader involved. Strongly recommended, to all young cat lovers, and to anyone interested in the culture and folk traditions of Cornwall! show less

Mousehole (pronounced Muzzle in Cornwall) is a real fishing village and, although not obvious, the story is a Christmas story, Mowser has a wonderful pet human, Old Tom, whom she really loves. He gets her all kinds of fish for her dinner. But one winter the great Storm-Cat is particularly ferocious and, although the harbor is well protected from his fury, no fishing boats can leave the harbor. The town subsists on what vegetables and breads are still available, but even those run out. On Christmas Eve, Old Tom decides the children must not go hungry on Christmas Day. He decides to try his skills against the angry Storm-Cat. Fearing she will lose him, Mowzer goes with him to help protect him against the power of the Storm-Cat.

The show more illustrations are quite beautiful and I really like that, within neither the story nor the illustrations, do the cats ever behave like anything other than regular cats. Even the Storm-Cat is exquisitely portrayed as completely feline. show less

A great book for the visually-orientated cat-lover, but even a dog person is unlikely to be able to find fault here. The story itself is fantastic: moving, yet perfectly suited to the picturebook format, but when you couple it with the utterly stunning illustrations, it becomes simply wonderful.
(March 2009)

Judging from the cover and from the amount of text on the pages, I wasn't sure whether my 4 year old was going to take to this book. But he LOVED it! He loved everything about it, and he was completely enthralled by the story. He had a lot of questions for me while we read, especially about the storm cat, for whom he was very empathetic. And he got a little teary eyed towards the end.

It's an amazing, magic story, and the illustrations, especially the ones of the storm cat, very powerful. We borrowed the book because it's on the list of 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, otherwise it would probably not have come our way.

Enjoyable folktale of an old man and a cat and the sea, set in the real town of Mousehole in Cornwall.

An extended storm has prevented the villagers from being able to fish for days, so old Tom, the fisherman, decides to risk his life to catch food for everyone. His cat Mowzer goes with him and out on the open sea sings to the Great Storm Cat, soothing its hunger for 'mice-men', such that Tom can get his boat full of fish back into Mousehole harbour to be welcomed by all.

The beauty of the illustrations far exceeds that of the text.