The cat who walked across France

Kate Banks, 1960-

Book - 2004

After his owner dies, a cat wanders across the countryside of France, unable to forget the home he had in the stone house by the edge of the sea.

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Location Call Number   Status
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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
New York : Frances Foster Books 2004.
Language
English
Main Author
Kate Banks, 1960- (-)
Other Authors
Georg Hallensleben (illustrator)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
unpaged : ill
ISBN
9780374399689
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Reviewed with Catherine Stock's A Spree in Paree. PreS-Gr. 2. France is not just background but also focus in these two picture books by superb authors and artists. The appeal of the setting may sometimes be stronger for adults than for preschoolers, but in both books kids will identify with the animal characters in a strange new world. In The Cat Who Walked across France, Banks uses simple, lovely words to tell the elemental story of an outcast's journey home. "For many years the cat had lived in the stone house by the edge of the sea." Then his loving owner dies, and all her belongings "along with the cat" are shipped north.itty finds himself prowling the streets of a strange city, begging for scraps and fleeing from stray dogs. He leaves to walk home, and a map on the back cover charts his route. Hallensleben's gorgeous landscapes show the places from the cat's viewpoint. The Eiffel Tower looms over the park; thundering trains pass under the bridge; a castle is reflected in a pool. The paintings are exquisite, and the landmarks are famous, but what kids will like best is the cat's adventure and the loving welcome he receives from the new owners when he finally reaches the house he knows. In contrast to that tenderness, Stock's A Spree in Paree is pure farce, with wild, colorful cartoon pictures in ink and watercolor and a story reminiscent of Doreen Cronin's Click Clack Moo (2000). The farm animals make the farmer Monsieur Monmouton take them on a day trip to Paris, and they all have a wonderful time. What's great is Stock's preserving the animals' body language, even when the critters become grotesque versions of other tourists, checking out the latest fashions, gawking at paintings of cows in the Louvre, screeching outrageously at the cancan dancers at the Follies Bergere. Adults who know Paris will probably get the most out of this, but kids will relish the slapstick of creatures acting as boss and taking over the hangouts of the posh elite. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2004 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this sympathetic tale, a dislocated gray cat migrates from Rouen to St.-Tropez. (A back-cover map of France shows the traveler's zigzag itinerary.) Originally, the cat lives in southern France with his owner: "The old woman would scratch his ears and stroke his back./ `Good kitty, good kitty.' " But when the woman dies (offstage), the cat and her belongings are sent north. A poignant image shows him sitting on a crate, looking out a window at dank, sandy-blue buildings. He takes to the streets, scrounging for food near the Rouen Cathedral, easing through verdant cow pastures and blending with the concrete grays at the Pont Saint-Michel near Notre-Dame in Paris. He passes over TGV tracks, shelters in the eaves of a cabin near the Alps and rests on a rock by an ancient Roman aqueduct. Yet he never lingers long, driven by "the tangy smell of lemons" or "the taste of the salty air... behind the stone house by the edge of the sea." The team behind And If the Moon Could Talk) tells an "incredible journey" narrative without overstating the drama or sentimentalizing the resolute cat. Hallensleben composes space like Matisse and loads his brush with paint like Van Gogh; his full-bleed spreads feature gorgeous tree-greens and drenching blue skies, and the quiet cat is a small, intense presence in the panoramic settings. Francophiles and cat fanatics will melt at the immensely satisfying conclusion, where the voyager achieves his long-sought contentment with his stone home's new occupants. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3-Displaced when his elderly mistress dies, a cherished pet makes a long and lonely trip through cities, towns, and the countryside to return to the seaside home he shared with her. "The cat pranced over bridges and bristled at the thundering trains that passed. At dusk he would lick the dirt from his face and paws. In his dreams he could hear the twigs snapping and the crunch of dried leaves as he circled around the stone house by the edge of the sea." Banks's account of the expedition and the longing of the unnamed feline is quiet but descriptive. Occasional dangers such as stray dogs, aggressive children, and city traffic punctuate the animal's plodding trek as he grows thin and tired, doggedly working his way across the country. Hallensleben's double-page scenes, painted in his customary broad strokes and deep palette, convey a warm but also somber sense of each place as the journey progresses. The unidentified French landmarks create a particular geography for the universally satisfying story. A map of the route taken appears on the back of the book jacket. Predictably, the house's new owners offer the feline a warm welcome. How could it be otherwise? Rich in theme and evocative in tone, the cat's quest will resonate with young readers.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

(Primary) Author and artist take a classic tale--an animal traveling a long distance to return home--and imbue it with a strong sense of place. The cat of the title lives contentedly with an old woman in a stone house by the sea (depicted as a paradise of sunshine, turquoise water, blue hills, and palm trees). When the woman dies, her belongings, including the cat, are shipped off to a city in the north, but once there, the cat is left to fend for itself. The illustrations contrast the sunny, colorful south with the bleak, gray surroundings of a northern city, but the cat soon leaves the city and roams the countryside, ""circling pastures where animals grazed."" Banks uses a calm tone and precise details to describe the cat's trek, focusing always on the cat's experience of his surroundings and his memories of the smells and sounds and feelings of his old home. At last he returns to his stone house, where he's welcomed by two children. The nicely understated writing, which includes none of the usual near-death experiences of such animal stories, allows the vibrant paintings to expansively flesh out the details. Hallensleben's illustrations, using richly saturated colors, reflect a deeply loving view of France, both countryside and towns, and include landmarks that Francophiles can easily pick out. With its satisfying conclusion, the quiet story could be used to introduce any number of themes with children but might be best enjoyed by armchair travelers left on their own to dream. A map on the back cover shows the cat's journey from Rouen in the north, through Paris, and down to Saint-Tropez on the Mediterranean Sea. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

With the rich palette and thick brushwork of Rouault or Gauguin, Hallensleben magically captures the light of France and the forthright courage of a small gray cat. The nameless feline lives in a stone house by the sea, but when the old woman who lived in the house dies, he is sent to the north along with all the rest of her possessions. Driven by memories of the salt air and the feel of bluegrass, the cat begins a return journey, through cities and countryside recognizable to anyone who has traveled in France, and deliciously evocative to anyone who hasn't. The cat survives by cunning and the kindness of strangers, and the back cover map precisely tracks his journey from Rouen to St. Tropez. When he returns to the stone house with its blue door and scent of lavender, he walks right into a new family who recognize that he is home. Beautifully realized. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.