The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof

Description

The likeable Mr Tibble is a good and kind man, but seems to lack the killer instinct to succeed at his job as a reporter on the town newspaper, where the editor is growing dissatisfied with his endless articles about the local cat population. Minou is a cat... or at least she was until some freak of chance changed her into a young woman, albeit a young woman who loves purring, scratching, tree-climbing and other typically catlike pursuits. When Tibble rescues Minou from an angry dog, and invites her in for a saucer of milk, both their lives are transformed. Minou exploits the feline grapevine to provide Tibble with inside information on the town's goings-on, and his career begins to take off. But when he decides to confront a powerful local businessman on behalf of the cat community his newfound confidence and determination is put to the test...

Born in 1911, Annie M.G. Schmidt wrote stories for her own amusement throughout her childhood, and worked as a librarian. By her death in 1995, she was regarded as the Queen of Dutch Children's Literature. She won numerous awards including the1989 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Astrid Lindgren presented her the award with the words: ...Annie, I love you so much, where have you been all my life?... Schmidt is now in the Canon of Dutch History taught to Dutch schoolchildren, alongside Spinoza, Anne Frank and Vincent van Gogh.