Willy the Wandering Kitten

[Who Wants to Adopt] Willy the Wandering Kitten

 

No author or illustrator credited

Derrydale Books, 1988

Young Willy, a three-month old tabby kitten, is very keen to explore the world around him. He has grown tired of chasing butterflies with his brothers and living with mom in the garden. Mom has told all her boys not to go into the house – that’s where the people live! – but one day Willy notices the back door open to the house and he sneaks away and into forbidden territory. Once inside he plays with yarn, explores the house, is almost swished by a broom, meets a mouse and gets caught in a spider web. After the web he decides it’s time to go back outside. He meets a dog, a pony and her foal, a baby hedgehog and another kitten his age. After a long, long day of exploring, in the end, Willy just wants to go to mom.

 

This oversized picture book has beautiful, realistic illustrations. The print is medium large but the letters and words are close together and there are a lot of them! Young readers should have no trouble reading the book to very early readers and Willy’s adventures makes for happy dreams if read at nap or bedtime. Although Willy narrowly avoids disaster on a couple of occasions, he’s never in any real danger but he learns to be courageous and do the thing that frightens him.

 

I don’t know if the book is still officially in print, but you can get a copy fairly cheap on Amazon. Mom got our copy at the thrift store. If you can find one, it would be a nice addition to your cat book collection!!

 

Ratin: 4 out of 5 paws

 

Reviewer: Simon