Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings

This one starts out among another cat family. Alexander has always had life pretty easy, and happens to think a lot of himself. He’s confident he will do great things in the world, so one day he sets off exploring to do them. Finds out pretty quickly the big wide world is a dangerous place. He narrowly misses getting hit by a truck, is chased by large dogs and ends up at the top of a very tall tree too scared to come down. Spends the night there, and in the morning is frightened again to be approached by what he thinks is a terrifyingly strange black bird. But it’s not a bird- it’s one of the catwings, who purrs to show she’s friendly, coaxes him down out of the tree and then leads him to the farm where she lives. There show more Alexander has another shock when he meets more winged cats. And they tell him their story. Because the black one doesn’t talk. She’s Jane- the little kitten the other catwings had rescued in the city . . . Jane had been traumatized as a kitten. She never speaks of what happened, in fact she barely speaks at all. Alexander had always planned to do something grand and important in his life and he does- but his accomplishment is a far more personable one than he’d ever imagined. He gives Jane the comfort and security she needs to finally voice her fears. Finally understanding what she’d been through, the others all vow they will keep her safe from harm and now she’s able to put the past behind her.

I was floored by this little story. What a deeply important message to put in such a small, unassuming book for young readers. That the biggest accomplishments in life aren’t fame and grand feats that everyone will notice, but having compassion and helping those around us. The healing story of this little kitten overcoming her traumatic childhood was so sweet. She’s so fierce, too! show less

A lovely little story. Alexander is an idiot, in the way of (approximately) teenage boys/kittens - but he's not quite so full of himself as to completely fail to notice that he's been rescued, and be grateful for it. And the way he solved Jane's problem, by noticing that she also needed rescuing, is lovely. I'd never seen any of the Catwings books before - now I want to read all of them.
Now having read the earlier books - this one's actually better. Like the others, it comes to a stopping point, where Alexander has a place...but this one continues, to let Alexander actually choose to take action and help his rescuer. And his action makes a real difference to the Catwings. This one has a point, besides being sweet - very nice!

Alexander Furby is a wonderful kitten. Everyone says so. He thinks of himself as Wonderful Alexander. When it seems that he's done everything there is to do within the grounds of his country home, he sneaks off one night to see the world. The world is much scarier than he anticipated. When he finds himself in a difficult situation he can't handle on his own, fortunately a cat – with wings! - comes to his rescue. This is my favorite book in the Catwings series. Alexander's predicament will help children develop a healthy sense of self-worth. Through Alexander, children will learn that it's OK to accept help from others when you're in over your head, and it's good to use your strengths to help others.

In this third Catwings volume, there's a character for children to identify with. Alexander is the apteryx of the cat world (as is Mrs. Jane Tabby, but a mommy cat is not how children see themselves). Despite his flightlessness, he is able to help Jane fille master her rat-induced PTSD and speak again, solely by means of rapport, unconditional positive regard, and the talking cure. This will be very useful in some future Catwings/[b:Rats of NIMH|9822|Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH|Robert C. O'Brien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327885031s/9822.jpg|839692] mashup.

Wow this series is incredible. This one is about facing your fears and healing trauma. This would make an excellent home storytime book for a 4-8 year old. There is even an audiobook narrated by Ursula K. Le Guin that I can't recommend enough.

Alexander doesn't have wings, and imagines himself a brave adventurer, unlike his sibs. Off he goes, to be helped by Jane. Interesting that Jane ends up in a parallel situation in the next book. It kept W's attention, and he recalled aspects of previous books when reading this one, but I don't see it as a re-read.

Evie's Review: I loved it. The only downside is that Jane was afraid and I don't like that. I think in the next book, Jane should overcome her fear of rats and attack - Muahahahahahaha! I liked how Alexander found friends. Like it said -from Evie CATS MWUHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA!

What 9-year-olds find funny is strange, I have no idea what "CATS MWUHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA!" means but she insisted she be allowed to type it. When I asked for clarification, she said, "it's funny." She's a BIG fan of cats though.

These are quick listens narrated by Ursula Le Guin. (They're illustrated chapter books, so I follow along in the Kindle app - Evie is less interested in that part.)