Meet Catvinkle, a pampered puss who dances in baby shoes and makes friends with a Dalmation named Ula.Catvinkle the cat lives in a stylish house in Amsterdam with her owner, Mr Sabatini. One day the kindly Mr Sabatini meets a homeless Dalmation and decides to take her home. When Catvinkle sees the Dalmation enter her precious room with the deliciously warm fire, she takes umbrage. How could a dog be allowed in the house?
The Dalmation’s name is Ula and soon enough the two take the first troubled steps to get to know each other. As a friendship starts to emerge, Catvinkle reveals some secrets, one of which is her skill as a dancer. She dances in a pair of baby shoes and regularly enters the National Kitten Baby-Shoe Dancing Competition. Her great rival in the competition is the vain and conceited Twinkiepaws. With the help of Ula, Cantvinkle finds the courage to challenge Twinkiepaws in this most celebrated contest.
Elliot Perlman’s first novel for children is a charming and pitch-perfect story about learning to accept difference and meeting life’s challenges. The story has a broad roster of brilliant characters, from the frightening dog Grayston (it turns out he's not so scary in the end) to the somewhat aristocratic and eccentric Russian wolfhound, Lobbus. The hip New York cat Ketzington is a hoot: her parents met at a nightclub called Studio Fifty Paws. There is much energy, imagination and invention in Catvinkle. A favourite hangout for the dogs is a place called “Café Puppy Land”, where dogs had been “resting, drinking and snacking since 1642”; a club for cats called Kittens Anonymous meets on the western side of Vondelpark.
Enter Catvinkle’s cosy, pampered world and prepare to be charmed.
The Adventures of Catvinkle, by Elliot Perlman. Published by Puffin. RRP: $19.99
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