Temple Cat

I got this recommendation from the Ancient Egypt section of Rebecca Rupp Resources (http://www.rebeccaruppresources.com/?p=5903). Cute, short, but with surprisingly beautiful language, this book really captured my kids' attention, particularly that of my 3.5 year old son, who requested I read it three times in a row, and several times since then! The overall message - that the pampered life isn't all it's cracked up to be - is well-played, and the ending is very happy. :)

This is a nice piece of narrative poetry about a cat from what seems to be ancient Egypt. The cat is worshipped as a god in a temple, but doesn't enjoy the life of constant praise he leads. Therefore, one night he slips away to see the rest of the world and finds true happiness as a poor family's cat by the sea. Dissimilar to my earlier Clements reads, but still very good.

I'm a big fan of Clements' school stories, like Frindle. ?áSo I had to get this. ?áThe art is gorgeous. ?áThe story is a simple fable, containing a deep truth. ?áIt ends (imo) a bit abruptly, given the comparatively long build-up, ?ábut is otherwise both entertaining and moving. ?áRecommended."

While Temple Cat would be a great book for any cat lover, I did not enjoy the context. I enjoyed that it gave a strong problem and a solution. This would allow readers to see that the temple cat did not want to be pampered all day but to live his life as a cat, which he later did after finding a family in the story. But there was not a lot of action in the book as it had to give some historical content in the beginning to help the story along. From pages 7-9 the author shows why the cat is the lord of the temple which is great information but not given in an interesting way.

illustrations, egypt,