Katje the Windmill Cat

Description

This heroic tale was inspired by a true story that took place over 500 years ago. It tells of Katje the windmill cat who lives happily with Nico, the miller, in a Dutch village by the sea. By day, Katje chases mice in the windmill; by night, she sleeps on a soft pillow on Nico's bed. Then Nico brings home his bride, Lena, and everything changes. Katje is shooed away by Lena as she sweeps the house or when she finds Katje playing with the new baby. Eventually poor Katje leaves her home and moves into the windmill. But when a storm breaks the dike that holds back the sea, Katje performs a feat of extraordinary courage that makes her forever welcome in the house.

Gretchen Woelfle came across the story of a cat, a baby and a flood when travelling in the Netherlands. About Katje the Windmill Cat, she says, "I began to wonder who was the cat that was so clever and so brave, and Katje's story began to develop." Gretchen Woelfle's stories for children appear frequently in magazines and anthologies. She lives in California, USA. Nicola Bayley is particularly known for her exquisite pictures of cats, although with Katje the Windmill Cat she especially enjoyed creating the world in which Katje lived. One of this country's best-loved artists, Nicola Bayley has illustrated many acclaimed picture books for children, including All For the Newborn Baby, The Necessary Cat and the award-winning The Mousehole Cat. She lives in London.

"Bayley's pictures are characteristically painstaking and gentle, softly lit, finely worked and pretty. Full of atmosphere and tenderness, this is a book to treasure." The Sunday Times' Children's Book of the Week * "This heart-warming story is rendered something really treasurable by Bayley's wonderfully vivid and rich illustrations." The Guardian