There Were Cats

There Were Cats (1987) Post 283

There Were Cats is a rhyming reading scheme book about a young witch facing her "final test", which is to pick the right cat to accompany her on her life's journey. I remember having a lot of fun doing dialogue and adding world-building details to this story, and it reads aloud well in consequence. The young witch has purple hair, and she gets her cat from a breeder hag who acts rather like any salesman, trying to find the right choice to tempt her customer. Finally, of course, the girl chooses the one the breeder does NOT recommend...and they are very happy together.
The refrain, which I remember though it's many years since I re-read the story, goes, There were cats, cats, cats, mean and crabby cats, white cats, black cats, grey and tabby cats... there were cats!
I recall specifically going for "white cats, black cats" which is an unusual way around, to get children to read what IS there rather than what they assume is there. This book came out in 1987... just a couple of years under the bar which would have seen it deemed "unsuitable".

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Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service.