Customer Reviews

Temple Cat

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

 

 

This is a wonderful book, and a great teaching tool. As a teacher, I am always looking for new ways to teach. This book was recommended by Crayola magazine on the subject of Ancient Egypt, so I checked it out at the library. I fell in love with the book because of the illustrations and original story line and will now buy this book. Most if not all of my students enjoy animals and they like that the main character is a cat who is worshipped and lives in her own temple cared for night and day by servants. It really was interesting to learn history through the eyes of an exalted feline. They enjoyed it immensely.

A beautiful and enlightening book. This is a simple little story of a runaway cat, set in ancient Egypt, but its subject is really nothing less than the purpose of life, equally applicable to cat or human. Is it better to be pampered, eternally exalted, but apart, or to live in the world and be free to eat fish heads in the sand? The temple cat finds his answer.
Less, maybe, for those who want their children to seek everlasting happiness in an afterlife, then, but for those who want them to see eternity here and now in the mud huts of everyday existence, this is an excellent bedtime story.
For this Dad, Temple Cat is a favorite book. I mean a favorite for myself. My seven-year-old daughter likes it too: "It's nice that he found a nicer home. The illustrations are really beautiful."

Although set in Ancient Egypt, the "Temple Cat" is primarily a story of a cat's search for freedom. If you are looking to gain a deeper understanding of Egyptian life, look somewhere else. Nice illustrations and a pleasant story make "Temple Cat" an enjoyable read.

It's easy to daydream about living a life of luxury. Temple Cat, a picture book written by Andrew Clements (Houghton Mifflin 1996), gives the reader a glimpse of that life in a whole new way. The story is of a cat in ancient Egypt who is worshipped as a god. The cat not only lives in a temple, it feels completely trapped by its hieroglyphic walls. It cannot eat, jump or play on its own without his faithful servants stepping in to make life for the cat that much easier. But it does not want to be worshipped, it wants to be a cat, and it must venture outside the walls of the temple to learn who it really wants to be.
This is both an informative and thoughtful tale on the position of cats in ancient Egyptian culture, as well as a heartwarming story of discovering life and happiness according to one's own beliefs. Kate Kiesler's wistfully golden illustrations capture the tone of Egypt and the cat's world inside the temple. His servants are never fully shown, their faces always hidden, a clever means to show separation and loss of identity within the temple. It isn't until the cat learns what it truly means to be a cat, not a god, when children show him something much more powerful than worship, they show him love.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have servants cater to your every whim? What if they fed, protected, and worshipped you? It may sound like the perfect life, but not according to a certain cat who lives in a grand, mighty temple. Andrew Clements's "Temple Cat," (Clarion Books, 1996) describes a feline yearning for freedom in ancient Neba in spite of grandeur, comfort and luxury. When the cat tries to fish in the reflecting pool, a servant rushes to catch it for him. When the cat attempts to nap in the sunny window sill, he is lifted away and placed in his bed. When the cat wants to prowl around outdoors at night, he is followed by a servant with a flashlight.

One day, the cat decides he has had enough and sneaks away in the middle of the night searching for independence and adventure. He roams all around and eventually finds himself at the edge of the sea with a fisherman who plays with him and introduces him to his children, who also pet him, play with him and love him. The cat realizes this affection is what he has been missing.

Kate Kiesler's oil paintings are realistic and exquisite. The warm colors of browns, beiges and oranges are consistent with the Egyptian desert setting. Her depiction of Egyptian art is fantastic and the unique upward angles and perspectives she uses keeps the reader captivated. In fact, the visual work far surpasses the story itself. The primary question any reader half awake might be asking themselves is how the cat manages to slip out of the temple unnoticed when servants are supposed to be alert to his behavior. Despite a weak plot and an underdeveloped, unnamed main character, those who harbor affections for felines might appreciate this light-hearted, whimsical tale.

This book is nicely crafted, with a simple story about a beautiful cat. I like it, but for some reason it did not capture my 6 yo's imagination or attention, despite her extreme interest in Egypt, pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphics and even deserts. My daughter thought the temple cat was a golden cat, in Egypt, and a sad cat. So she got the basic premise, but just hasn't been keen to read this, unlike other books that have captured her completely.