Cat, You Better Come Home [Library Binding]

Garrison Keillor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Leaving for Europe to become the ""cat-food queen"" and changing her name to Clarice, Puff lives the life of a star as she is wined and dined all over the continent, until disaster strikes and all Puff wants to do is go back home. Reprint. SLJ. K. "

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What happens to an uppity cat when she gets a taste of the "good life"? When Keillor does the spinning, the tale takes a slyly farcical turn, like the best of his Prairie Home Companion radio skits. Bouncy, syncopated verse (adapted from one of Keillor's folksongs) tells of Puff's rise and fall as "the Number One TV cat-food queen" at the same time that it wryly mocks the one-sided relationship between haughty feline and supplicating owner. Feeling underappreciated, Puff departs in a huff to seek her fortune, leaving the despondent narrator wailing, "CAT, YOU BETTER COME HOME." Johnson and Fancher, who previously collaborated on Jon Scieszka's The Frog Prince, Continued, play up the details of Puff's transformation. She is all Hollywood feline femme-fatale, stretched out on a divan in a mink boa, or surrounded by her entourage ("A swimming instructor, and a butler named Bruce/ And a ballet coach, and a German masseuse"?the swimming teacher is a be-goggled octopus, while the butler is a formally attired bloodhound bearing a bowl of goldfish atop a silver tray). The rich, honey-toned paintings accentuate the humor with slightly skewed perspectives; intermittent blocks of text are decorated with cartoonish sketches. Young readers may miss some of the references in the text and the art, but ailurophiles will rejoice. All ages.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Fine paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher illustrate Keillor's tale of a cat who becomes rich and famous, tiring of life as a cat and wanting to sample the good human life. She and her owl boyfriend are enjoying Europe, until disaster strikes. Rhyme and unusual illustrations mark a changing plot. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Bt Bound (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613028422
• ISBN-13: 978-0613028424
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,287,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Garrison Keillor is the bestselling author of Lake Wobegon Days, Happy To Be Here, Leaving Home, We Are Still Married, Radio Romance, The Book of Guys and Wobegon Boy (available in Penguin Audiobook). He is the host of A Prairie Home Companion on American public radio and a contributor to Time magazine. He lives in Wisconsin and New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, funny and very moving, July 27, 2002

By 

AMC "scifiali" (Atlanta, Ga) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat, You Better Come Home (Viking Kestrel picture books) (Hardcover)

This retelling of the prodical son story based on a runaway cat is one children's book that moms and dads will love, maybe even more than their kids. Garrison Keillor's poem is a joy to read and the artwork so is beautiful you won't even want to let your children get their hands on it. The story is rich in sarcasm and symbolism for adults and funny rhymes and sound effects for the kids.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For big kids, May 3, 2004

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cat, You Better Come Home (Library Binding)

The narrator's cat wants to go out, and he argues with it, telling her she better come back if he lets her out. When he finally lets her out, she takes off immediately to Europe and lives it up on chateaubriand and other fancy food, and develops a decidedly European purr. But her life of excess results in her eventual demise, and she ends up back home again after a year and half. The text is all told in rhyme, and the artwork is in an interesting cubist-influenced style. The book is quite sophisticated, and may go over the heads of most small people. It has about 1100 words.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not necessarily about cats, November 10, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cat, You Better Come Home (Library Binding)

Cat lovers, Keillor fans and children alike will enjoy this book for its beautiful art, rich and colorful writing and endearing message. But it's not necessarily about cats. Keillor hides behind the cat as Minnesota's prodigal son who finally came home. You can see the world. Become famous! You can even get rich but you can't take the -oh out of a Minnesota boy. We're glad you came home, Garrison.