The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale [Hardcover]

Carmen Agra Deedy (Author), Randall Wright (Author), Barry Moser (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2011 | Age Range: 10 and up | Lexile Measure: 740L (What's this?)

Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard life dodging fishwives brooms and carriage wheels and trade his damp alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. When he learns that the innkeeper is looking for a new mouser, Skilley comes up with an audacious scheme to install himself in the famous tavern. Once established in the inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, the intelligent mouse-resident, and his fellow mice. Skilley protects the mice and the mice in turn give to Skilley the delectable Cheshire cheese of the inn. Thus begins a most unlikely alliance and friendship. The cat and mouse design a plan to restore Maldwyn wounded raven and faithful guard in the service of Queen Victoria to his rightful place in The Tower, but first they must contend with a tyrannical cook, a mouse-despising barmaid, and an evil tomcat named Pinch. Will the famous author suffering from serious writer s block who visits the Cheshire Cheese pub each day be able to help?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Cat and mouse may be traditional enemies, but in this appealing historical novel, a cheese-loving tom cat named Skilley takes up residence at London’s Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, where he befriends Pip, one of the many mice living at the inn. With Pip’s help, Skilley convinces the innkeeper that he’s a fierce mouser, all the while secretly releasing his “victims.” The amiable Charles Dickens, a frequent customer attempting to write another novel, observes them with amusement. Meanwhile, one of the royal ravens from the Tower of London is hidden away in an upstairs room. The plot thickens when a wicked cat threatens Skilley, the mice, and the raven. With many likable characters, a couple of enjoyably despicable ones, and a lovingly depicted period setting, this eventful chapter book has plenty to offer young readers. Familiarity with Dickens’ novels is not a prerequisite for enjoying the story but will add to the pleasure of those who recognize the references here and there. Moser’s expressive pencil drawings capture the characters and the sometimes amusing, sometimes exciting tone of the story with finesse. Grades 4-6. --Carolyn Phelan

Review

STARRED REVIEW "He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms." So opens Deedy (14 Cows for America) and Wright's (The SilverPenny) spry hybrid of historical fiction and animal story, set at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a real-life pub "famed as a haunt for London writers." The line refers to Skilley, the mouser at the tavern, where Charles Dickens is struggling to find a lead-in to his new novel. Snippets from Dickens's journal reveal his suspicions that something s askew between Skilley and the pub's substantial mice population. He's right: Skilley, who prefers eating cheese to mice, has agreed not to harm them if they bring him cheese from the storeroom. Pip, an intellectually minded mouse, teaches himself to write using his tail, a skill that comes in handy at multiple points during the novel. Moser's graphite illustrations are realistic and wonderfully emotive, especially in combination with the novel's fresh dialogue, typographical flights of fancy, and wordplay. Expertly realized characters and effervescent storytelling make this story of unlikely friendship, royal ravens, and "the finest cheese in London" a delight. Ages 8 12. (Oct.) --Publishers Weekly

STARRED REVIEW
Gr 5-8 The vagaries of tavern life in 19th-century London come alive in this delightful tale. Skilley, a street cat with a secret (he eats cheese!), finds a home at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, where he pretends to be a mouser and gets the attention of Charles Dickens, a frequent customer. Befriended by Pip, a precocious mouse who can read and write, Skilley tries to protect his rodent pals and Maldwyn, an injured royal raven hiding in the garret, from Pinch, a ginger alley cat who s out for every tasty morsel he can get. There are cat-and-mouse battles aplenty. Several subplots are happily resolved: the cook reveals that the mice are her official cheese-tasters; Queen Victoria herself comes to rescue Maldwyn; Mr. Dickens finally finds an opening sentence for his new novel, and more. The fast-moving plot is a masterwork of intricate detail that will keep readers enthralled, and the characters are well-rounded and believable. Language is a highlight of the novel; words both elegant and colorful fill the pages: alacrity, scrivener, thieving moggy. And then there are the Dickensian references: artful dodging of Hansom cabs, Dickens saying he has great expectations. His amusing diary entries, revealing both his writing difficulties and his thoughts about Skilley, and the occasionally fanciful page layouts add to the humor. Combined with Moser s precise pencil sketches of personality-filled characters, the book is a success in every way. It should be a first purchase for libraries interested in bringing young readers to the marvels of Dickens via the back or, should I say tavern door. Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, The Naples Players, FL --School Library Journal

STARRED REVIEW He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms. And for all his harsh early life and unnatural dietary preferences, ragged London alley cat Skilley gets to look at a queen, too.
Landing a gig as mouser for the chophouse and writers hangout Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a lifelong fantasy come true for both Skilley and the inn s swarm of resident mice because unlike his feline rivals, Skilley adores cheese and has no taste for mice at all. In fact it isn t long before he and Pip, a mouse of parts who has learned to read and write, have become great friends. Deedy and Wright take this premise and run with it, tucking in appearances from Dickens, Thackeray and other writers of the time. Cat and mice unite to face such challenges as the arrival of a cruel new cat named Oliver ( Well, this was an unwelcome twist ), a mysterious cheese thief and, climactically, a wise but injured old raven that is the subject of a country-wide search that culminates in a visit to the inn by Queen Victoria Herself. Moser contributes splendid black-and-white illustrations that manage to be both realistic and funny, recalling Robert Lawson while retaining his own style.
Readers with great expectations will find them fully satisfied by this tongue-in-cheek romp through a historic public House that is the very opposite of Bleak. (Animal fantasy. 10-12) --Kirkus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers; 1 edition (October 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561455954
• ISBN-13: 978-1561455959
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Europe

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Charmer of a Book November 22, 2011

By Maxine McLister

Format:Hardcover

The Cheshire Cheese Inn makes the best cheese in all of Victorian England. As a result, it attracts some very prominent patrons including author Charles Dickens. It also attracts a huge number of mice. The Cheshire Cheese is badly in need of a cat.

As luck would have it, Skilley, an alley cat with a shameful secret, is badly in need of a home. So when he learns that the Inn is looking for a mouser, he quickly offers his services.

This charmer of a story is aimed at middle graders but it is definitely one which will appeal to all ages. It is a wonderful tale full of memorable and quirky characters who will stay with you long after you close the covers. And the marvelous black and white illustrations which pepper the pages add to its appeal.

Although it is not a Christmas tale, it is so full of good cheer (but not in a schmaltzy way) that it would make the perfect gift for your little reader. Before you wrap it though, you really should read it yourself. However, I recommend that you wait until the kids are asleep all snug in their beds because, once you begin this book, I guarantee you won't want to put it down.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The best laid schemes . . . October 4, 2011

By E. R. Bird HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Animal stories. Done well and you get something like Charlotte's Web or The Incredible Journey. Done poorly and you cannot name for me a more annoying genre. Some days it seems to me that every great children's author eventually tries their hand at the style to varying degrees of success. Burned one time too many I've taken to just avoiding books with animals in them altogether unless there's something that seems to be extraordinary about them. So when The Cheshire Cheese Cat came into my possession, I was inclined to put it aside. Then a friend and an editor both assured me it was lovely. And then there was the fact that Carman Agra Deedy, author of such great picture books as 14 Cows for America had co-authored it. Finally, it's not every day that the great Barry Moser illustrates a new work of middle grade fiction. Add in the fact that there's a Charles Dickens connection and I cracked. I read it. And reader, it was worth the reading. Not that it convinced me to rethink my animals-in-books opinions, but at least I may be a hair more open minded in the future . . . maybe.

The Cheshire Cheese Inn is a place of secrets. It seems that anyone who works or lives there has one. For Skilley the alleycat, his is a shame that has caused him to strike up a deal with the local mouse population that haunt the inn's famous cheese production room. For Pip, his mouse friend, it has to do with the mysterious creature that lives amongst the mice, insisting on its own freedom. For the cook it's a secret about the cheese, and for the barmaid the same.... Only the famous writer Charles Dickens, a man that patronizes the inn, seems secret free. And yet, he too harbors a difficulty and a shame. It'll take Skilley's deal with Pip to set the spark that causes all these secrets to come to light, and it may possibly save the very monarchy of England as well!

As with any book starring the furry, it all comes down to personality. If you don't believe in the characters then you haven't anything to connect to. Here, the critters are infinitely interesting. Pip's oversized vocabulary makes for a nice side element in the tale. If Skilley comes off as a kind of hired muscle, Pip is the brains behind the operation. From his first utterance of words like "sepulcher" and "perpetual internment" you can see that he is a cut above the general mouse population. Interestingly, once Pip start throwing out one hundred dollar words, the book follows suit. I caught words and phrases like "stygian darkness" bandied about without comment. It doesn't grate, though, and such words and phrases are understandable within context. By the way, I just referred to Skilley as a kind of thug, but in fact there are depths to him. I was particularly fond of a moment when Pip mentions that his family died in a cleaver-related accident. Thinks the cat, "Cleavers, in his experience, rarely acted alone."

For the writing, you see, is quite good here. There are passages that lift it above the usual children's literary pack. At one point Skilley has treated Pip abominably and he is told to own up to it. "It is not enough to say you are sorry. You must utterly own the terrible thing you have done. You must cast no blame on the one you've injured. Rather, accept every molecule of the responsibility, even if reason and self-preservation scream against it. Then, and only then, will the words `I am sorry' have meaning." That's just a great passage (and not bad advice either).

And then we run into the inevitable question as to whether or not kids will get the Dickens references in this book. Will they understand that the great author himself is attempting to write the first sentence in A Tale of Two Cities? Will they appreciate that a cat with the personality of Bill Sykes is given the adorable name of Oliver by a deluded barmaid? Or that a delightful girl of questionable mortality goes by the name of Nell? Yeah, probably not. And you know what? Who cares? If the book's storyline hinged on the reader getting these little elements then it might matter. It would also, in such a case, be a useless book for children. Far better to slide the little references in here and there. If a parent or a teacher reading this book with a kid wants to tell them what book they come from, that's fantastic. But it's hardly required knowledge.

I don't know how to draw a mouse with an overbite. Do you? I don't. Seems to me that a character like Pip would take a delicate hand. So Barry Moser's work on this book is fantastic (as you would expect). It is also careful. He gives his animals a full range of personality and emotions without turning them into anthropomorphized cartoon characters. The mice look like mice, the cats cats, etc. His humans, for their part, are a perfect array of Dickensian character studies. They're a little more caricature-ish, but then so are the people who populate Dickens' books. Of these people, Moser's Nell is the most impressive. You look at her image and you instantly like her. You simply do. Somehow, the artist has managed to tap into something very real in this girl. You feel as though she's based on a real person. One that lives and breathes. There's just something about her.

I'm not sure how two authors go about collaborating on a book like this one. Deedy and Wright's co-authorship has to be shared with Barry Moser's fantastic images, though. Without these three working in tandem together the book would not be half as interesting as it is. This is a true collaboration. One that mixes history, animals, mystery, and literary references in abundance. Kids of all ages, genders, and stripes will take to the book. It also happens to make for a handsome readaloud. Recommend it to any child looking for just a good read. It is, precisely, that.

Ages 7-12. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Crafted And Easy To Love October 28, 2011

By DAC VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Wright drawings by Barry Moser
Stories will talking animals are hit or miss for me (usually miss) I can't articulate why only a few work for me or what it is I like but I know it when I see it. Like Underneath by Appelt or Whittington by Armstrong this hits the mark.

The Cheshire Cheese Cat is co-author Deedy's first early reader and an excellent one at that. The story is a fun hat tip to Charles Dickens featuring a cat named Skilley with a secret. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is an inn known for having the best cheese in London. They also have a mouse problem. Skilley the only street cat that doesn't have a taste for mice bought into to Ye Olde to kept the population down. This is perfect for Pip, the mouse in charge. Pip and Skilley make an arrangement so everyone is happy. Everything is going well until Pinch a very vicious cat is hired. Pip and Skilley have to be extra careful that their secret isn't discovered.

When I started reading this I couldn't put it down. It's one of those books that makes me wish I had a fireplace to read by. Moser's illustrations which are sprinkled throughout are lovely. Along with the short chapters make this a great choice for a read aloud. There's another layer to this story involving a Raven that makes it that much more intigruing. The Cheshire Cheese Cat has everything, adventure, unlikely friendship, danger. and beautiful language.

"Scat, cat!" A broom came down hard out of London's cold and fog. Startled, Skilley leapt sideways and the broom whiffled empty air. The cat however, refused to scat. He eyed the dead fish then the broom, calculating the distance between the two. "Off now, you thieving moggy," the fishmonger shrilled.... As if reading his thoughts, she kicked the fish under her stall and cocked the broom for another swing. Fishwives. the curse of London cats. With a flick of his peculiar tail, Skilley turned his back to the woman, putting all the disdain he could muster into the sway of his hips."

Deedy and Wright have collaborated to create a wonderful story. A 2011 favorite that I believe is a serious contender for the Newbery.

Three Starred Reviews - Kirkus, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Friendship and Loyalty November 10, 2011

By Lisa F.

Format:Hardcover

Set in Victorian England this is a fun book portraying the unlikely friendship between a cat and a mouse.

Skilley is a street cat who find out about the mice infestation in a shop that sells cheese and figures out a way to be the cat to take care of the problem. He meets a mouse named Pip and they find a way to cooperate and both of them are able to meet their unique needs. Their biggest dilemma is how to help the raven, Maldwyn find his way back to the tower of London. In the mean time they have to stay out of the way of the very evil cat named Pinch.

This book is story of friendship, loyalty, and forgiveness. I loved the mouse society. Many unique mice live in the Inn, of course, where else would they be when there is the worlds best cheese? We can't forget Charles Dickens role in the story as he struggles to overcome writers block while studying these remarkable animals.

I really enjoyed this book and know that middle grade readers will enjoy it as well.

I received a review copy from Netgalley.