Five reasons we love The Cat With the Coloured Tail by Gillian Mears
The Cat with the Coloured Tail is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize. Here are five reasons why we think it’s brilliant.
1. It’s lovely and life-affirming.
Mr Hooper has a magical cat with a colour-changing tail, and the two of them use their unusual magic to bring colour to the lives of the people around them. They spend their days selling moon-creams (these are like ice-creams with the power to make sad people happy), as well as spotting hearts wherever they appear in the world – in ant nests, in clouds, in leaves on the pavement.
2. It’s great as a read-aloud and a read-alone.
The short chapters and whimsical narrative make this an ideal story for an adult to read with a young child aged five or older. And readers aged seven and older itching to test out their skills will love sitting in a quiet corner with this gorgeous book in their hands.
3. The beautiful artwork.
Mears’s heartfelt tale is perfectly complemented by Dinalie Dabarera’s illustrations. Most are black and white pencil sketches with highlights of colour shining through and, like Mr Hooper’s moon-creams, have the ability to bring a smile to any reader’s face.
4. It will make you hungry.
I didn’t even know I wanted a moon-cream until I heard about these delicious creations, from the rose-pink moon-cream for a lonely old lady, to the moon-cream in the form of a realistic lady beetle – and, of course, the moon-cream shaped like ocean waves that tastes ever so slightly of salt.
5. It’s not like any other book you’ve read.
If you can find another book that has cats with colour-changing tails and men who sell magical ice-creams out of moon-shaped trucks, we’d like to hear about it. This is a unique parable that will leave a warm feeling in your heart.
