Katje the Windmill Cat
Age 5+
Folklore, Myths & Legends Traditional Stories
Creators
Nicola Bayley is a gifted illustrator best known for her loving, detailed illustrations of cats. Nicola studied Graphic Design at St Martin’s College and then Illustration at the Royal College of Art. She specialised in cats and has illustrated a wide rand of children’s books including "The Necessary Cat", "Katje the Windmill Cat", "The Curious Cat" and an extravagant new edition of Rudyard Kipling’s classic "The Jungle Book". Her work is both admired and acclaimed. In 2001, Nicola was short listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal for "Katje the Windmill Cat" and "The Mousehole Cat" was the winner of the British Book Award for the Illustrated Children's Book of the Year and the British Design Production Award (Children's Books).
Reviews
Woefle’s simple, graceful prose is a pleasure to read aloud. Bayley’s lovely watercolors with their borders inspired by delft tiles are a delight for the eye.
School Library Journal
Woelfle (THE WIND AT WORK: AN ACTIVITY GUIDE TO WINDMILLS) transforms a historical account of the 15th-century St. Elizabeth’s Day flood in Holland into an engaging story in terms that children will understand…Both art and text infuse this little-known piece of history with warmth and imagination.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Gretchen Woelfle’s story…has a strong, quiet humor of its own.
Chicago Tribune
Woelfle’s tale is told in a stately storyteller’s voice. The third-person narrative is filtered through the cat’s point-of-view, illuminating the special relationship between human and cat. Bayley’s delicate watercolor pencil illustrations are full of detail, harkening back to the medieval Dutch and Flemish painters.
Kirkus Reviews
Smoothly told as well as finely illustrated, this heartwarming book, inspired by an actual incident in Holland in 1421, is certain to become a favorite for lapsharing.
Booklist (starred review)
An affirmation of feline courage and devotion, a story that will inspire children to appreciate their pets and astound adults with an animal’s ingenuity…a book no parent can afford not to buy.
Lawrence Journal-World
