nicktomjoe's review against another edition
4.0
A cat adopts a family, and grows into something more human, demanding, dangerous: shades of the short story by Kate Atkinson of a cat as substitute boyfriend; echoes of Little Shop ofHorrors. A curious mixture of real menace and high comedy, I wondered about the audience for this book. Not that I'd be so crass as to say it was "unsuitable for school use," but that the growing unease of the narrator - a child at the time of the incident, a puzzled adult as narrator - creates a sense of dread that is somehow wrong-footed by the light, colloquial child voice. With the child voice comes a real sense of anguish at a family falling apart. The (more or less) happy ending still presents a family not coping with trauma, disunified. The hiatus between this discomfort and the "cavalry charge" that rescues the family is unnerving.
Would I "allow" it in a class? What "use" would it be in school? Well, it's not a successor to "Woof," and it could be seen as a deceptive genre-bender like the problematic "Bye Bye Baby," and I would want anyone to read it with an accepting but critical eye.
Would I "allow" it in a class? What "use" would it be in school? Well, it's not a successor to "Woof," and it could be seen as a deceptive genre-bender like the problematic "Bye Bye Baby," and I would want anyone to read it with an accepting but critical eye.
leithd15's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
raynasdad's review
3.0
Good book. Not necessarily for children. (The tone is a little creepy, and there is a bit of bad language.)
pussreboots's review
5.0
I spotted The Improbable Cat by Allan Ahlberg sitting on the recommended shelf in the children's library. I liked the cover an was curious about the title. I'm glad I read it even though it wasn't what I was expecting.
The cover, the silhouette of a cat sitting before a fire doesn't look especially ominous. The title invokes a slight sense of mystery. What exactly makes a cat improbable?
When David's family takes in a sickly gray kitten and begin to lavish more attention on it than they do the family dog, Billy, I expected a story in the vein of the Bad Kitty books or maybe a wild cat like Angus in the Georgia Nicholson books. This cat though, is something other, something belonging in an X Files or Doctor Who episode than a chapter book.
There's no actual violence, just an ever growing ill at ease mood. The cat becomes more and more of an obsession for the family and less and less catlike in the process. Think of Stitch raiding the refrigerator in Lilo & Stitch where he lets his guard down and Nani sees his extra appendages. This "cat" is like Stitch but with far less good will.
Middle graders and tweens who are beginning to discover Gothic horror, like Poe, will like The Improbable Cat.
The cover, the silhouette of a cat sitting before a fire doesn't look especially ominous. The title invokes a slight sense of mystery. What exactly makes a cat improbable?
When David's family takes in a sickly gray kitten and begin to lavish more attention on it than they do the family dog, Billy, I expected a story in the vein of the Bad Kitty books or maybe a wild cat like Angus in the Georgia Nicholson books. This cat though, is something other, something belonging in an X Files or Doctor Who episode than a chapter book.
There's no actual violence, just an ever growing ill at ease mood. The cat becomes more and more of an obsession for the family and less and less catlike in the process. Think of Stitch raiding the refrigerator in Lilo & Stitch where he lets his guard down and Nani sees his extra appendages. This "cat" is like Stitch but with far less good will.
Middle graders and tweens who are beginning to discover Gothic horror, like Poe, will like The Improbable Cat.
ellielabbett's review
4.0
Quite an odd, sinister story but one that I very much enjoyed. When a stray kitten comes to live with the Burrell family the most unlikely things begin to happen. Despite what appears to be a harmless exterior, David begins to notice the cat holding a bizarre power over the family home, one seemingly uncontrolable and gradually getting stronger. Just what is this power, and how can David's family be brought back to reality?
Ahlberg's tale was strangely unsettling, both in its depiction of a destructive force and how small deteriorations in the family unit can snowball into something bigger. Alarming it may be, The Improbable Cat is also quite comedic and there were a lot of laughs mixed in with the tension.
What I enjoyed most was the loose ends, which Ahlberg eerily leaves untied and allows the reader to make up their own mind. Excellent for bringing the tale to life. Whilst this would be a superb text to recommend to children, some small sections with mild bad language makes me a little hesitant. Nevertheless, an excellent and very different horror story!
Ahlberg's tale was strangely unsettling, both in its depiction of a destructive force and how small deteriorations in the family unit can snowball into something bigger. Alarming it may be, The Improbable Cat is also quite comedic and there were a lot of laughs mixed in with the tension.
What I enjoyed most was the loose ends, which Ahlberg eerily leaves untied and allows the reader to make up their own mind. Excellent for bringing the tale to life. Whilst this would be a superb text to recommend to children, some small sections with mild bad language makes me a little hesitant. Nevertheless, an excellent and very different horror story!
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