A Dickens of a Tale
by Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright
ISBN: 978-1561455959
$11.17 (Amazon hardcover)
About the book:
Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his street-cat life. Tired of dodging fishwives' brooms and carriage wheels, he hopes to trade London's damp alleyways for the warmth of ye olde Cheshire Cheese Inn. He strikes a bargain with Pip, an erudite mouse: Skilley will protect the mice who live at the inn, and in turn, the mice will provide Skilley with the thing he desires most.
But when Skilley and Pip are drawn into a crisis of monumental proportions involving a tyrannical cook, an unethical barmaid, and a malevolent tomcat, their new friendship is pushed to its limits. The escalating crisis threatens the peace not only of the Cheshire Cheese Inn but also the British Monarchy!
Unbeknownst to Skilley and Pip, however, they have a secret ally: a famous author who scribbles away many an afternoon in ye olde Cheshire Cheese Inn...
Click here to learn more about The Cheshire Cheese Cat.
The Cheshire Cheese Cat
Parents’ Choice Gold Award / Parents’ Choice Foundation / 2011
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I had a hard time NOT sharing this book until summer when the Summer Book Club for Middle Grade fiction kicks off. Obviously I didn't win! LOL
The Cheshire Cheese Cat is a very unique and creative book with many endearing characters and much action. Skilley the cat finds himself a "job" at the Old Cheshire Cheese Inn and manages to avoid spilling his secret (he doesn't EAT mice) and (loves cheese) by pretending to catch the same mouse over and over again and only old Mr Dickens figures him out. When Skilley's nemesis is brought in the action takes off and secrets start spilling throughout the entire place!
Carmen & Randall make a great team - the writing is smooth and several of the pages have the words typed in a pattern - they might be swirling, going up 'stairs' and dead ending, going down 'stairs' and sometimes tumbling into dining rooms! The pages are illustrated in pencil drawings and are very detailed and interesting and the characters of the book are vividly brought to life.
Be sure to check out The Cheshire Cheese Cat website for teaching activities, examples of the illustrations in the book, information about Victorian England, the Tower of England & the Ravens and Charles Dickens - a regular customer at The Cheshire Cheese Inn. Click on this picture to go to the website:
I strongly encourage you to add this book to your home library! It's great for reading aloud, at bedtime, curled up under the covers or in front of the fireplace. Kids 8+ will love it and possibly even the younger kids will too. The chapters are short (some only a 1/2 page long) and the pictures are a lot of fun to look at.
Learn more about:
Carmen Agra Deedy
Carmen Spins a Tale on TED (Video)
Visit Peachtree's Blog
Visit Peachtree on FB
Follow Peachtree on Twitter @PeachtreePub
Peachtree Publishers very generously offered a review 3 of Carmen Agra Deedy's books. You can read the review of The Last Dance and the review of Agatha's Feather Bed. No $ exchanged hands and I wasn't required to write a positive review.
The giveaway will be started on Jan 18 and will end the following Friday. Click here to enter the giveaway.
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| Click to enter giveaway |
Carmen Agra Deedy
Carmen Spins a Tale on TED (Video)
Visit Peachtree's Blog
Visit Peachtree on FB
Follow Peachtree on Twitter @PeachtreePub
Peachtree Publishers very generously offered a review 3 of Carmen Agra Deedy's books. You can read the review of The Last Dance and the review of Agatha's Feather Bed. No $ exchanged hands and I wasn't required to write a positive review.
The giveaway will be started on Jan 18 and will end the following Friday. Click here to enter the giveaway.
This book sounds lovely!
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