Customer Reviews

A Cat's Eye View of Life and Love by Sterling with Gentle Self-Help for All Ages

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is not just for cat lovers. Anybody who is looking for practical, common-sense wisdom delivered in plain English, without a lot of psycho-babble, will appreciate Sterling's views and advice on the ordinary and mundane puzzles of life.

Marta (in the persona of Sterling) gently brings us down to earth and helps us find our feet psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. In this wonderful book, we get the meat and potatoes of life in delicious and satisfying portions.

A Cat's Eye View... is for grownups, for kids, for the troubled, for the serene, for the rich, for the poor. In other words, it's for everybody who would like their hand held for a moment while they have some fun in the process.

Buy it for yourself; you'll like it! Give it as a gift; you'll be appreciated!

I've lived with cats throughout my life and read many cat books. I was surprised and delighted to discover, however, that "A Cat's Eye View of Life and Love by Sterling" is unlike any cat book I've ever read. The book begins with M (the author Marta Felber) and Sterling, the cat, discovering one another at a local animal shelter. M is widowed and looking for a feline companion. Sterling has been abandoned, for reasons we will never know, and is hoping for a home. It is love at first sight, but when M leaves to get a carrier to bring him home, Sterling wonders if she will ever return. Thus begins the story of a relationship between a cat and his human companion. But as we read on we find it is much more. Through Felber's insight, compassion, wit and imagination, we are led to discover it is also a book about ourselves. Sterling's story parallels our own. His challenges are the same we face on a daily basis.

Each story deals with a familiar topic: fear of change, learning to love and trust, making time for play and self-care, losing weight, seeing the world through another's eyes, making room for others in our lives, and more. "Mewsings" at the end of every story offer a gentle step into greater understanding of a cat's life and of our own. Accompanying the stories are delightful photographs of Sterling, all taken by the author. The cover photo is gorgeous, highlighting Sterling's silver colored fur and ears that look like iridescent seashells.

It's hard to pick a favorite story, but one I especially enjoyed was "Ignoring Names." It speaks, in a humorous way, to the power of names and nicknames in our lives and in our self-perception. This is a lovely book to read just before bed, to read to yourself or to someone you love, to read to a child, and to give as a gift. This book not only entertains, but has the power to expand of view of ourselves and the cats in our world. Buy several and give them as gifts. Your friends will thank you.

Cheaper than counseling and a lot more fun...
There is much wisdom and more than a little humor in Sterling's feline view of the world. His take on life and his relationship to his human companion should give us all pause for thought (pun intended). While Sterling's "mewsings" make great fodder for reading aloud to children of all ages, just reading a story or two can cheer a dreary day and help us forget our self-importance.
Susan Williamson
North Carolina

Some books just give you a warm fuzzy feeling all over and A Cat's Eye View by Sterling is certainly one of them. This gentle book is told from an interesting perspective, one most of us have thought about at one time or another - What is our pet thinking???

In this case M's cat Sterling is watching, learning, and considering all the things that are happening in both Sterling's life and M's life. Each little vignette that Sterling shares is followed by a "mewsing" -something for us to contemplate; something to help us understand our world; something to help us understand our feelings about our world.

In addition to the written word, the pictures included with the book add to the warm fuzzy feelings the book exudes. This is a book that would make a great gift as well as a wonderful addition to a personal library. While the target population for the book is adults, this book is very appropriate for children as well.

I was hooked by the preface which Sterling calls "Before We Begin . . . ."

As I turned the pages, I felt refreshed, amused, and in the end, saddened.

One of Sterling's many observations is "Some people, not to mention names, bathe only once a day."

Marta Felber is brilliant. I love it.

Shirley Lindsay

Cats have feelings. If you have ever had a cat as a domestic companion, you know this. Some might say we are simply attributing to cats our own range of human emotions. But Ms. Felber knows differently, and by the time you reach the epilogue of her book, she has made a convincing case that, regardless of whether cats really have feelings, their lives are ripe with lessons for living, which Ms. Felber cleverly calls "mewsings." Ms. Felber subtly takes the reader from an infant's fear of abandonment and overwhelment, to grown-up expressions of love, joy, anger, jealousy, and fear, to coping with death. This is a book for all ages that can be appreciated at many levels.

Sterling's book is so real to life that I feel at home in his world. In "Beginning a Purrfect Day" Sterling's routine is much like mine. Some days turn out better than others, and I need to appreciate those more. I relate to the story "Wondering Why," as Sterling also wonders why and decides it is okay not to know the answers. "Saying I'm Sorry," if only in my mind, is so important when I have been unkind to someone else. I discover a message in each of his sixty stories.

Humor is woven throughout the book. Sterling sees and challenges a rival cat in the mirrors. In "Causing a Catastrophe," Sterling gets caught under the tight skirts of the antique dress form and brings it crashing down upon him. The cat hater in "Knowing I'm Not Wanted" has no clue that he waltzes behind her head on the back of the sofa, while M serves her tea and cookies.

This review is written in the present tense because I continue to pick up Sterling's book and discover new meaning. If I could speak to him I would say, "Thank you, Sterling, for speaking directly to me in my world. You both encourage and inspire me. You come alive with your photos on every page. You are so beautiful!"

"When someone annoys us, talking back in our head may be the safest and kindest thing to do." ~ pg. 14 (a mewsing I could appreciate)

It was snowing outside as we came home from a hockey game. All I wanted to do was to curl up with a good book. I tried two other books but they didn't feel right. Then I remembered this book had arrived and climbed into my warm bed for an evening of cozy reading. "A Cat's Eye View" really warmed my soul and made me understand life from a different perspective. As you turn each page new pictures of Sterling appear with his story of his life and a "mewsing" which is a life lesson condensed into just a few words.

"Significant others in our lives want to fulfill our needs.
It is important to let them know what those needs are.
It is important to show our appreciations.
Sometimes we neglect to discover
what those we love want us to do for them." ~ pg. 42

The stories begin with Sterling being rescued from a shelter and end with the discovery that a new cat is in the house. In between we learn all about Sterlings favorite toys, how he bites Marta's feet in the morning to get her out of bed to feed him and how he loves being on the porch to watch the birds. Along the way in his journey he learns to make new friends and even moves to a new house.

There is quite a bit of humor in this book. Sterling is a cat with an attitude and likes to do things when he likes to do them. He makes note of this on many occasions. But overall he is a very loveable cat. I thought the story of when Sterling sees himself in the mirror and thinks there is another cat in the house was pretty funny.

"Napping is an art perfected by cats.
Everyone can adapt it to their individual nees.
practice it every day, perfecting it as you continue.
Remember always to set an alarm for the longer naps,
to protect your nighttime sleep." ~ pg. 94

While reading Sterling's adventures I couldn't help but remember all the things my cats do every day to amuse me. This book will be a pleasure for all cat lovers to read. It would even be perfect to read to a child. I wish I could give it 100 stars because I loved the book that much.

~The Rebecca Review

Have you ever just looked at your cat and swore "that cat knows something it's not telling me." The eyes, expressions and even reactions prove cats have more going on than they get credit for. Most people think that cats just eat, sleep, use the litter box and repeat. Cat owners and lovers know differently. Some cats meow, others chitter, and some make weird peeps but all of them try their darnest to speak to us. It's not our fault they are just speaking another language we humans cannot understand. Sterling and Marta call it Catonese not be confused with Cantonese. One of the best examples this communication barrier can be found on page 65 entitled Showing Love. "What is a kiss? Sometimes, when my face is close to M's, she will touch her nose to mine and say, "Kiss?" Now, when she gets really close, I reach and touch her nose with mine. It feels good, but in the past when I have tried to say "kiss" in the past, M hasn't understood my word for kiss." My cat companion Oliver, tries so hard to talk to my husband and I. Ollie just ends up frustrated and so goes to nap somewhere quieter. Although he does get quite animated on his chittering when he doesn't get his way maybe its best we have a communication barrier. My husband and I swear he's cussing us out sometimes.
In this book Sterling explains that everyone including paw-folk and humans alike suffer from things that turn our world upside down. Such things as new people (animals), changes in routines and new problems can alter our feelings of love, comfort and safety. We all search out people, places and situations that make us feel loved and happy. When the storms of live come upon us we all need someone to keep us close and tell us "Everything is will be okay... it will pass."
Sterling and Marta did an excellent job of getting their messages across in a funny and heart touching way. Some of the most important people and paw-folk in our lives get wrapped up in their lives and forget to take time out for us. Sometimes they get mad when we "rub up against them and knock over the object of their attention. Instead of getting mad and doing a no no on the floor or storming off mad (maybe saying something we don't really mean. We need to find a way to get our loved ones attention so we can get the love and comforting we require. Oliver my kitty companion when feeling ignored does one or two things to get my or my husbands attention. Either he starts chittering up a storm or he simply jumps in our laps regardless of what we are doing. These actions tell us... "Hey I'm here and I need you now!"

The saying ( I don't recall where I have heard it) goes, "Everything I have learned, I learned from my cat." is a difficult concept for most non-cat owners. Knowing the temperament and baits of a pet can help to understand the differences in their moods and even allow a pet owner to almost see what the animal is thinking. That is how well Marta Felber knows her cat Sterling. This is a series of short stories told from Sterling's point of view. Adventures that start by M (that is how Marta is referred to by Sterling in the book) adopting Sterling from a local shelter. While Sterling covers the basic cat's life stories about his toys, his favorite hiding places and where he likes to sit to watch the birds outside, Sterling also shows us an alternate view point to loneliness, fear, change and loss. After Sterling's short stories on life, Marta has added a moral or life lesson they have called `Mewsings' that help to relate Sterling's intuition to more human situations and moments.

What caught my attention for this book was the cover. The picture of Sterling, he is a beautiful cat and being a cat lover and owner, I was drawn to his expressive face. Unknowingly, I had understood the concept of the book before ever getting a copy in my hands. I have found so many of Sterling actions to be a feline characteristic, the story `Learning about Reading' got me to actually reach down, and sure enough I was able to pet my own sweet cat, she was lying next to me just as Sterling was with M. There were many of the `Mewsings' that had me agreeing with and simply enjoying the insight. Some of the stories were fun or funny, some were of a mundane life, while other stories made for good life lessons, but there were a few sat stories that really pulled on the heart of a pet owner. This is a very unique format for a self-help book, but Sterling and Marta have found a way to quickly get out a little bit of encouragement or support for many different circumstances.