Product Description

An unforgettable tour of France

The cat and the old woman have lived happily together for many years in the stone house by the sea. But when the old woman dies, the cat is packed up with her belongings and sent north to the village where she was born. Soon he is forgotten. He walks the streets aimlessly until, spurred by memories and a longing to return to the place he knows and loves, the cat embarks on a journey to find the home he was taken away from.

In lyrical prose and breathtaking images, Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben take the reader on a journey across the Norman countryside, past ancient ruins, through bustling cities, to the sparkling ports of the Mediterranean Sea and a place the cat can call home.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #302615 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780374399689
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Condense The Incredible Journey to its purest essence then add the most exquisite, vividly painted illustrations, and there you have The Cat Who Walked Across France.

A cat lives contentedly for many years in a seaside village, until his old mistress dies and he is shipped off to another town far away. Lonely and ignored, the gray kitty sets off on an odyssey, lured by memories of "the tangy smell of lemons ripening on a branch under a window at the stone house by the edge of the sea," and driven by "the taste of the salty air that blew off the water and coated the bench behind the stone house by the edge of the sea." Returning finally to his home seaport, the paw-sore old cat finds the door to his stone house still open and inviting. Readers will be pleased (and not surprised) to learn that the new residents welcome the brave and determined fellow with open arms and dishes of food.

Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben, who have teamed up on several gorgeous and award-winning picture books, including Close Your Eyes, are a creative match made in heaven. Lovely! (Ages 5 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 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
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
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. Kitty 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 © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Educators Recommend
"For many years the cat had lived in the stone house by the edge of the sea . . . He chased the wind that scuttled through the garden . . . At dusk he curled up in the bend of the old woman's arm" and she scratched his ears and stroked his back. "Good kitty," she tells him, "good kitty."

When the woman dies, her belongings, along with cat, are shipped north to her childhood home. With no one there to love him, the cat decides to leave. He roams the French countryside, sleeping in barns, hunting field mice, and dodging dogs and cars in bustling, big cities. His journey takes him past the Eiffel Tower, over bridges, around castles and ruins, through storms, and into occasional danger.

Time passes. "His fur grew scruffy. Now and again he would stop to linger on a grassy bank or in the cool shade of an ancient wall." Always though he pushed on, dreaming of the stone house by the edge of the sea.

"Thin and frail" the cat finally makes his way home. As he walks up to the door of the stone house, he finds it wide open. Soon he is curled into a small ball, asleep on a couch. When he awakens he finds a boy and girl standing over him. They offer him a platter of food, fresh water, and, satisfyingly, a home.

A map of France on the book's back cover shows the cat's zigzag journey from Rouen in the north to St. Tropez in the south.

Hallensleben's paintings are lushly textured with bold, big, colorful brush strokes.

Excellent as a read aloud.

Reviewed by the Education Oasis Staff.

4 1/2 Impressions of a Wandering Feline
An orphaned cat walks from Rouen (just outside of Paris) to Mont Blanc via the Loire Valley, and then all the way to St. Tropez to find his original home in this beautifully illustrated book. Greg Hallensleben's rich, captivating oil colors, visible brush strokes, dabs of color, atmospheric haze, and subject matter recall such great French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists as Monet, Van Gough, Rousseau, and Gaugin.

The unnamed cat, seen walking by a Monet-inspired Notre Dame, seems fated to join his gateaux miserables: "He prowled the street begging for scraps to eat and fleeing from stray dogs! But then, the Gallic spirit arises, and he decides to head for the home he was taken from years ago. The prose respects the intelligence of the young reader, and the inner voice calling him to the sea is believable.

However, this is more of a picture book than an adventure tale. Hallensleben shows the effects of light on scenery as the cat journeys towards the Mediterranean. While Hallensleben's richly textured oils and vast horizons are impressive in their grandeur, they don't distance the reader (perhaps because we can identify with the cat, and because of Hallensleben's warm and varied palette). We see the cat on a bridge overlooking "thundering trains," resting on the lawns of a large, shimmering chateau, seeking refuge in the snowy French Alps, and sipping water near what looks like a Roman bridge.

The paintings of the cat's single-minded journey give the book a unity and emotional pull far beyond its relatively simple story. The cat eventually finds a home and a friendly hand to pet him in a Matisse-inspired home and a Cezanne-inspired sea. This is an excellent book, especially for those who enjoy French landscapes and the painters who envisioned them.

A TOUCHING STORY OF PERSEVERANCE
Who says you can't go home again? Especially when home is a refuge of familiarity, comfort and love.

For many years a cat lived with an old woman in a stone house in France. Their house was by the sea so the cat well knew and loved the smell of salt air. At night the cat would curl in the woman's arms and she would pet him.

One day the woman died and all her belongings, along with the cat, were packed and shipped north to the place where she was born. However, there was no one to care for the cat. He wandered the streets meowing for food and running from predatory dogs.

Enough of this! He decided to go home. Could a cat possibly walk all the way across France to find the home for which he yearned?

Suggested for children ages 4 - 8 this is a touching story of perseverance and the comfort of home.

- Gail Cooke