Monday 18 May 2015

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot & Axel Scheffler (review copy) - Cats! Some are sane, some are mad and some are good and some are bad.

Meet magical Mr Mistoffelees, sleepy Old Deuteronomy and curious Rum Tum Tugger. But you'll be lucky to meet Macavity because Macavity's not there!

This charming new edition contains original colour illustrations by the award-winning illustrator of The Gruffalo, Axel Scheffler. From Goodreads.

Ever since seeing the recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of Cats, I've been intrigued by the book of poems the musical was inspired by, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. It's a charming book of poetry that will delight child and adult alike - especially those who love cats!

It was great to see familiar characters within the poems, such as Macavity, and Munojerrie and Rumpelteazer, who were very memorable from the musical. Was sad to see Grizabella - the cat who sings Memory in the musical - doesn't actually feature in the original poetry book, but there are quite a few characters that did originate from Practical Cats. From what I remember, the lyrics are pretty close to the original poems, so I would hear the the music in my head as I read. Saying that, there's no storyline like there is in the musical; no Jellicle Ball, no cat being chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn by Old Deutronomy.

Axel Scheffler's illustrations are quirky and familiar from the picture books Scheffler has illustrated. Seeing what the cats get up to along with the poems will have young children giggling as they're being read to.

A wonderful book of poetry, and a great addition to any bookcase.

Thank you to Faber & Faber for the review copy.