Polo's Mother (Cat Pack) [Hardcover]

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Author), Alan Daniel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Cat Pack

Polohas always longed to find his mother. All he remembers is that she was soft and warm and smelled of milk. So when sassy, street-smart Geraldine returns, she isn't exactly the mother he expected. But Polo is still thrilled to have found her and is eager to show her off to his pack of friends in the Club of Mysteries.

As usual, there are many mysteries to be solved. Does the light inside a refrigerator turn off when the door is shut? What is at the top of a church steeple, anyway? But perhaps the most puzzling mystery of all is one Polo cannot figure out: Does his mother truly love him? If so, can he convince her to change her roaming ways and stay?

Irresistible to cat lovers everywhere, this is a heartening conclusion to Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Cat Pack series.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–In this final installment in the series, Polo tells his brother, Marco, that he longs to find their mother. The siblings head for the garage where they are accustomed to gathering with Texas Jake and the rest of the pack that makes up the Club of Mysteries. Lo and behold, mother Geraldine turns up, and Jake fears that he will lose control of the gang to this streetwise feline. He gives Polo, Marco, and Geraldine mysteries to solve, such as finding out whether the light in a refrigerator turns off when the door closes, that put the cats in danger as they move from adventure to adventure. A loyal mouse, dangerous rats, and singing felines add to the zesty humor. Naylor has a knack for giving characters both human and animal traits, so readers have no trouble following a story line with cats performing outrageous stunts or the fact that Marco learns to read from the newspaper in his litter box. Daniel's occasional sketches capture the personality of the characters as they go about trying to solve the mysteries of life. Fans will not be disappointed, except to see that this stand-alone novel concludes the series.–Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. Naylor's charming conclusion to her Cat Pack series mingles mysteries, cats, and sly humor as the felines from the three previous stories tangle in a fur-raising, caterwauling finish. Young Polo yearns for the loving comfort of his long-absent mother, but when Geraldine surprisingly appears at the Club of Mysteries, she's not the soothing, gentle presence he remembers. But as it turns out, it's Geraldine's toughness and gruff spirit that helps Polo and Marco solve the mysteries that mean Texas Jake has assigned them: What's at the top of a steeple? What makes a car purr? Does the light inside a refrigerator go off when the door is shut? The feline traits of the character are true to nature, and the cleverly renamed cat-themed songs may inspire some laughs (She's a Grand Ole Cat) as will the feline perspectives on those odd two-leggeds called "humans." Series fans (this is billed as the last in the group) will certainly want this, but the story can easily stand alone. Black-and-white illustrations interspersed through the tale are dramatic as well as delightful. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689865554
• ISBN-13: 978-0689865558
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,134,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I guess I've been writing for about as long as I can remember. Telling stories, anyway, if not writing them down. I had my first short story published when I was sixteen, and wrote stories to help put myself through college, planning to become a clinical psychologist. By the time I graduated with a BA degree, however, I decided that writing was really my first love, so I gave up plans for graduate school and began writing full time.

I'm not happy unless I spend some time writing every day. It's as though pressure builds up inside me, and writing even a little helps to release it. On a hard-writing day, I write about six hours. Tending to other writing business, answering mail, and just thinking about a book takes another four hours. I spend from three months to a year on a children's book, depending on how well I know the characters before I begin and how much research I need to do. A novel for adults, because it's longer, takes a year or more. When my work is going well, I wake early in the mornings, hoping it's time to get up. When the writing is hard and the words are flat, I'm not very pleasant to be around.

Getting an idea for a book is the easy part. Keeping other ideas away while I'm working on one story is what's difficult. My books are based on things that have happened to me, things I have heard or read about, all mixed up with imaginings. The best part about writing is the moment a character comes alive on paper, or when a place that existed only in my head becomes real. There are no bands playing at this moment, no audience applauding--a very solitary time, actually--but it's what I like most. I've now had more than 120 books published, and about 2000 short stories, articles and poems.

I live in Bethesda, Maryland, with my husband, Rex, a speech pathologist, who's the first person to read my manuscripts when they're finished. Our sons, Jeff and Michael, are grown now, but along with their wives and children, we often enjoy vacations together in the mountains or at the ocean. When I'm not writing, I like to hike, swim, play the piano and attend the theater.

I'm lucky to have my family, because they have contributed a great deal to my books. But I'm also lucky to have the troop of noisy, chattering characters who travel with me inside my head. As long as they are poking, prodding, demanding a place in a book, I have things to do and stories to tell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Polo Finds His Mother, August 30, 2005

By 

D. C. Webster (Seal Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polo's Mother (Cat Pack) (Hardcover)

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor brings us the fourth gift in her series on the doings of the cat brothers Marco and Polo, and, once again, manages to write a children's book that adults can enjoy. This one is particularly poignant because Polo has spent the first three volumes in the series wistfully wishing he could see his mother again. But, when Mom, a veteran alley cat named Geraldine, finally shows up one day she's not exactly what Polo was expecting. Geraldine has quite an impact upon the Club of Mysteries, of which Marco and Polo are members, managing to go toe-to-toe with the hardscrabble Texas Jake. But, in the end, Polo, of course, winds up finding the motherly affection he has so long desired.
Ms. Naylor has a particular knack for writing stories that have genuine appeal to both adults and children. The characters are both complex and accessible, and the humor is both broad and subtle. I had to stop and explain to my 8 year-old daughter several times why I was laughing so hard. She manages to capture the reality of the world in which the cats must live, a world which has its share of danger, death, and indignity, without giving children nightmares.
If I have one criticism of "Polo's Mother," it is that some of the crisis moments don't seem to flow out of the story quite as smoothly as in the first three volumes. All of the other adversaries from the previous stories show up at one time or another, and I didn't always find their entries into the story convincing. But, this is a minor quibble with what is otherwise a five-star work of children's fiction.
One word of advice: Don't try to read any of the Marco and Polo books out of sequence. Start with volume one and read them in order. And read them slowly and savor them.

5.0 out of 5 stars My Daughter LOVES these books, November 17, 2006

By 

roximama "roximama" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Polo's Mother (Cat Pack) (Paperback)

I have a 10 year old daughter that I have been trying to get into reading for about about 2 years now. It took this series of books to do it. She will sit for hours completely absorbed reading them. Granted she's an animal lover, who especially likes cats, so I would say any girl who loves cats will most likely LOVE these books.

3.0 out of 5 stars one very sharp mother, July 13, 2006

By 

Bonnielbowman - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Polo's Mother (Cat Pack) (Hardcover)

I have purchased all the books in this series for children in my family.I have the habit of reading the books I buy for the kids first so I get no surprises.Texas Jake and his club could be any group of children, oops cats, any where. The characters of the cats are well deefined by this volume, but it is not necessary to read the previous novels to understand who is who or whats going on. TJ is a bully who finally meets his match in Marco and Polo's street wise mother.He is head of the "Club of Mysteries." Together they ponder mysteries that they encounter in their everyday lives. But Jake has a habit of assigning hazardous mysteries to the young brothers Marco and Polo to solve.The timely appearence of their mother saves them from harm and caused Texas Jake no end of jealousy and fear of losing his place as leader of the cats.

The book is age appropriate and will be fun to read. The attitudes and actions of the cats can easily be transfered to the lives of children and parents can have an opportunity to talk about bullies, reckless acts, and how Mothers (even foot loose street wise one's)have lessons to teach.