Top Three Children's Books About Cats

Meet Cat Diaries’ favourite fictional felines…

For some reason, cats are often cast as the villains in popular culture works of fiction for kids, so we thought it was about time we redressed the balance by revealing our favourite children’s books about cats.

1. Six-Dinner Sid

In this beautifully written and illustrated book by Inga Moore, Sid is a black cat who lived at number one Aristotle Street – and also numbers two, three, four, five and six! Because the humans who owned those houses never bothered to talk to each other, Sid is able to enjoy six dinners a night.

Sid’s scam is revealed when he catches a nasty cough that leads each of his ‘owners’ to take him to the same vet on six different occasions. This causes the humans to tell Sid he’ll only be getting one dinner a day from now on – which he isn’t at all happy with. So off he goes to live at number one Pythagoras Place – and also numbers two, three, four, five and six!

Here, though, the neighbours do talk to each other, and because everyone knows about Sid’s six dinners, no-one minds.

‘Six-Dinner Sid’ is a charming tale about a clever cat, but it’s also about the benefits of getting to know the people around you – and as such hides an important lesson for little ones.

2. Slinky Malinki

Created by New Zealander Lynley Dodd as part of the ‘Hairy Maclary’ series, Slinky Malinki is a mischievous feline who gets up to all sorts of nocturnal adventures. All cat-lovers will be able to relate to the trouble Slinky gets into, while kids will love the clever, musical rhymes and sumptuous drawings.

3. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats

T.S. Eliot is one of the greatest English-language poets who often deals with the darker side of human nature. So it’s perhaps surprising that he has found his greatest commercial success with a series of poems, written for his grandchildren, about cats.

That success owes much to Andrew Lloyd Webber putting music to Eliot’s words and creating the theatrical blockbuster Cats out of the combination. But the poems are well worth reading in their own right, both as a way of introducing children to top-quality poetry and also showing them how with a little human imagination, cats can more from being mere pets to something far more magical.

Featuring such memorable characters as Macavity, Growltiger, Bustopher Jones and Mr Mistoffelees, this is a true timeless classic.

• What do you think? Tell us your favourite cat-related children’s book using the Comment facility below…

Image Sourced from Barb’s Books

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