August 8 – World Cat Day

Happy World Cat Day!

Scarlatti’s Cat written by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer and illustrated by Carlyn Beccia (2014)

The great Italian composer, Scarlatti, once had a cat named Pulcinella. Pulcinella went everywhere with Scarlatti, even to the palace in Madrid where Scarlatti gave the Queen of Spain music lessons. One day at the palace, Pulcinella chased a mouse across the Scarlatti’s harpsichord, inspiring Scarlatti to write ‘The Cat’s Fugue’. Scarlatti was so afraid that people would find out that a cat had composed the melody he had just written, that he gave the cat away. No one really knows whatever became of Scarlatti’s Cat, but Louis-Michel van Loo, the court painter for King Philip V of Spain wrote about a cat that was given to him as a gift. It was after this cat arrived that he began to paint his best works.

Is That My Cat? written and illustrated by Jonathan Allen (2014)

The cat in this story is too big to be my slim, sleet pussycat. She’s too big to be my little cat who leaps in and out of the cat flap on the door. She’s too big to be the light little cat I used to hold in one hand. This can’t be my cat, she can’t chase mice or climb trees. But… it IS my cat, and she has six tiny kittens!

City Cat written by Kate Banks and illustrated by Lauren Castillo (2013)

City Cat strolls along the streets, bridges, and monuments of major European cities. She catches rides on gondolas, trucks, boats, and subways as she travels.  Along side her, a family is touring the same cities always surprised to see a cat that looks just like their cat at home. Through Rome, Barcelona, Paris, London, and Venice City Cat chases mice and follows her family.