posted on 28 Jul 2017

Dread Cat by Michael Rosen illustrated by Nicola O'Byrne

That cunning old monkey, Michael Rosen, sure knows how to tell tales for children. The estimable publishers, Barrington Stoke have got him to do what he does best - tell a simple little story full of easy repetition that reels its reader into a final uplifting moral.

This is the tale of Dread Cat who is so good at his job of catching mice that the cheeky rodents have learned how to stay out of his clutches. Bad news for Dread Cat whose whole raison d'être is capturing mice. So, he needs a cunning plan to get his mojo back.

Telling the mice he's seen the light and declared peace, Dread Cat provides them with free cheese - an inducement no self respecting mouse can forego. All seems sweetness and light until the mice rumble their numbers are going down.....

Finally realising that it is just the nature of cats to catch mice, the shrinking group of victims come up with their own plan to check out whether Dread Cat's peace plan is just a ruse to lure them into a fiendish trap. Of course it is! But here's the thing - what they also discover is that safety for the small guy comes only when you come together as one and take on the powerful bully or persecutor.

Rosen's use of words is fabulous and hypnotic - where does his prose end and his poetry start? This book will be a monster hit read out loud and will have children squealing with delight - after all, this is the man who wrote We're Going On A Bear Hunt and he hasn't lost his touch.

On top of all that you also get superb illustrations from Nicola O'Byrne - some of them full page and some galloping from one page to another. She has a reputation for loving to draw animals and she is clearly revelling in the opportunity Rosen's magical use of words gives her. Some younger readers will love the drawings as much as the story and they really get full value for money here.

Produced in the 'Little Gem' series this is also a lovely book to have - with the added bonus of a glossy card cover with the inner cover and flap covered in groan-worthy cat and mouse jokes and the back inside cover providing more entertainment by way of a mouse maze-puzzle.

It's a beauty.

Terry Potter

July 2017