Mr. McGratt and the Ornery Cat: 10/30/10

Harriet goes through cycles of reading. Recently she went through an all princesses all the time phase. Then she went through a Christmas and Hanukkah in July phase. Now she seems to be returning to her roots: cats.

One of her recent cat book choices from the library was Mr. McGratt and the Ornery Cat by Marilyn Helmer. It's one of those "and the cat came back" stories (without the nuclear blast at the end).

Mr. McGratt wants to be left alone. He doesn't the annoying kid going through his pumpkin patch. He doesn't want the neighbor dog to eat his paper. And he certainly doesn't want a cat.

But you know cats. They pick people and often the very person who swears up and down he's not a cat person. Like Jack in Hate That Cat, Mr. McGratt doesn't want a cat. He hates the ornery cat who has picked him and his home.

And yet when the cat is there, the boy doesn't ruin his pumpkins and the dog has stopped eating his newspaper. Maybe, just maybe, the ornery cat is a useful cat. And maybe, just maybe, Mr. McGratt can change his mind and love that cat after all.

It's a cute book. Harriet and I both liked the story. The artwork was a little off for my tastes but the humor and good natured message more than makes up for it. It's an easy enough book to read that after I read to Harriet once, she re-read it to herself a couple more times before we returned it to the library.

Comments (0)