Customer Reviews

Varjak Paw

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ninja cats, drawn by Dave McKean. What else do you need?

This bizarre book - ostensibly for children - follows the adventure of a cat trying to save his family from being turned into clockwork toys. As Varjak brushes up on his martial arts, he also encounters a ragged group of friends (including CLUDGE the dog). Beautifully illustrated, with a simple (but weird) story that's a combination of Neil Gaiman and Watership Down.

Our whole family listened to this book (ages 7-40, boys and girls) and enjoyed it. We couldn't wait for the next one to come out. The adventures of Varjak Paw kept us all wanting to know what would happen to him next. I'm getting the second one for my 10 year old boy for Christmas.

THis book is kinda' grim, but it is still fantastic! This book is mysterious in a captivating kind of way. Do you get what i'm saying? Its hard to explain. If you liked this book, then i would suggest reading the sequal to this book, and try reading the catwings series! If you like the kind of dark fantisy books such as Harry Potter or the Warriors series, then this book is for you.

I picked up Varjak Paw mainly because it's fully illustrated by Dave McKean. The illustrations are wonderful and there are PLENTY of them throughout the book. But I ended up not only enjoying the illustrations but enjoying the story as well.

Varjak Paw is a house cat, a Mesopotamian Blue. He lives with his mother and father and brothers and sisters and is by far the least popular of the family. Varjak has always loved hearing stories of the great Jalal, the "ancient one", the first Mesopotamian Blue to come to America from what I gathered. His tales include stories of the outside world. Varjak and his family have never seen the outside world. They've never seen anything but the Contessa's house that they live in and the backyard. Now, however, a new man has come into the house after the Contessa has disappeared and with him are two mysterious black cats that are up to no good. In order to get rid of them, someone is going to have to go to the outside world and find something called a "dog" that should scare the cats away. Varjak decides that he will take on this task.

We follow Varjak on his adventures as he first leaves his sheltered life and enters the outside world where he meets street cats and encounters the big city. He learns the ways of Jalal, the elder through dream sequences that add a very nice eastern philosophy touch to the book.

Overall, this was quite an enjoyable book and I'd recommend it to readers young and old.

I read this book in installments to my 9-year-old boy. He loves cats and takes martial arts and loved this book. He chose it for a book report later in school. The story moves quickly and has more to it than many books written at the same level (there is a lot of white space, and there are pictures, but there are a lot of ideas well presented). I enjoyed reading it to him and I believe he will enjoy re-reading it on his own.

I got my copy from Daedalus Books at salebooks dot com. They have some great deals!

I enjoyed reading this book to my then 5 and 9 year-olds. Both my daughter and son loved the characters and their experiences. We can all benefit by heeding the lessons that Varjak learns as he faces his various challenges. Don't miss the sequel, the Outlaw Varjak Paw. The kids are writing to the author to ask him to write a third book. I hope he does.

The only thing that would have made the book better for me was if the ending of the book had more details, because to me it was kind of dull. The rest of the book was fantastic. It was like a cord leading you from the beginning to the end. While reading the book I felt like Varjak(protagonist)was sitting right there next to me. Sometimes when Varjak got into fights with other cats I could almost feel his pain. The antagonist's personality was awesome, evil but sort of friendly all at the same time. I liked how not only the protagonist and antagonist, but all the characters seemed so realistic. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes cats and loves a book that makes you wonder what's going to happen in every chapter. Also, if you have read other books by S F Said, then this is the book for you.

Varjak Paw is a coming of age story about a young kitten who is brave, loyal and honorable. The action is exciting and the characters rememberable. A fine book that deserves much more attention that it has received.

OMG THIS BOOK IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!! READ IT NOW!!!!!! GO VARJAK!!!!!! ;D

P.S. i do think more could be explained at the end though. I mean, what the heck happened to Holly's eye!? It says nothing about that!! but otherwise TOTALLY ROCKS!!!!

This almost seemed better than the warriors books. I loved Varjak, Holly, and everyone else. I can`t wait for the sequel. I want to share this book with my family starting with my little sister. It`s a great book for all ages. I recommend it to anyone who likes the warriors books. Go ahead and buy it. It`s worth it!