A series set in Northern Ireland featuring a magical cat for #ReadingtheMeow2024

Mallika of Literary Potpourri invited us to read and discuss books with cats in them this week.

I recently came across Meta Mayne Reid (1905-1991), who wrote some twenty children's books as well as two novels for adults and one collection of poetry from 1936 through 1980.

The Stone Cage, a fantasy by Nicholas Stuart Gray

Title: The Stone Cage
Author and Illustrator: Nicholas Stuart Gray
Publication: Dennis Dobson, hardcover, 1963
Genre: Juvenile Fantasy

Description: Old Mother Gothel, an evil witch lives in a remote cottage with Marshall, her enchanted raven, and Tomlyn, an embittered cat who tells the story. The bird and cat have an uneasy relationship, tattling on each other to win the witch’s temporary favor, as both dislike and fear her.

Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore

Title: Six-Dinner Sid
Author/Illustrator: Inga Moore
Publication: Simon and Schuster, hardcover, 1991
Genre: Picture Book
Setting: Great Britain

Description: Sid is a black cat who lives on Aristotle Street. He lives at number one, two, three, four, five, and six Aristotle, cleverly moving from house to house just in time for a different dinner at each one.

Blitzcat by Robert Westall - historical fiction about an intrepid cat during WWII

Title: Blitzcat
Author: Robert Westall
Publication: Scholastic, hardcover, 1989
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Setting: WWII Britain

Description: A black cat, named after Lord Gort, pines for her owner when he joins the RAF, and resents the new baby Geoff’s wife, Florrie Wensley, fusses over instead of her. Sensing strongly that Geoff is somewhere, she sets off to find him.

The Ghost of Opalina, or Nine Lives by Peggy Bacon

Title: The Ghost of Opalina, or Nine Lives
Author and Illustrator: Peggy Bacon (1895-1987)
Publication: Graymalkin, paperback, originally published in 1967
Genre: Children’s fantasy
Setting: Presumably Connecticut

Description: Philip, Ellen, and five-year-old Jeb Finley are delighted to make the move so beloved in fiction from the city to a rambling and mysterious old house in the country.