This is a children’s story that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. I read aloud to my children at night and chose this book based on the great cover image and blurb. It’s great when I can pick a book that I can also appreciate. We all enjoyed it immensely, and I desperately wanted to read ahead after they had gone to sleep to see what would happen next.
The story is about a boy called Barny Willow, who is so unhappy with his life that he wishes he were a cat instead and by some lucky chance his wish comes true! However, he finds that being a cat is not how he imagined. Rather than having a lazy, quiet, pampered life, he finds himself embarking on an exciting and dangerous adventure where nothing is what it seems. Barny longs to return to his human body, but that is not an easy task, especially when there is a cat inhabiting that body and it doesn’t want to leave. What happens next is dark, scary, funny, gripping, and exciting.
Barny Willow is an extremely relatable character, one that you can’t help but feel sympathy for, and the predicament he finds himself in.
It is very cleverly written and is a hugely engaging story. Each chapter finishes with a hook, that leaves you desperate to read the next chapter. The author introduces himself as the narrator and adds comments throughout the book, such as this one:
“HERE IS A secret I shouldn’t really tell you, but I will because I just can’t help it. It’s too big. Too good. OK sit down, get ready, brace yourself, have some emergency chocolate handy. Squeeze a cushion. Here it is: Cats are magic. That’s right. Cats. They’re magic.”
I loved the way, the narrator suggests that these human/cats exist. Anyone who has owned a cat knows they are very clever creatures and when the author suggests that these human cats are far more intelligent than actual humans, you could just believe it.
A truly magical and fantastical tale.