The Town Cats and Other Tales by
Lloyd Alexander
Clever Cats, Foolish Humans
As he did in Time Cat, Alexander brings a cast of feline characters to life
with his trademark verse, making sure readers never take a cat for granted
again!.
Personal Review: The Town Cats and Other Tales by Lloyd
Alexander
I am a big fan of Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, and saw that he had
written other books as well, so I decided to check them out. This was the
first that I read, and I must say that I am looking forward to reading the rest
even more now. This book is an excellent collection of short fairy tales
starring feline heroes/heroines. Each story is mean to teach a lesson, as
in Aesop's Fables (I am not sure why a previous reviewer said that this
was not the case, as it is rather obvious from reading the book). I will give
only one example, as I do not want to give too much of the book away.

One story which Alexender tells is about a Cat and a fiddler. The fiddler is
invited to play for the cats evening party, and enjoys it so much he
promises to come back again the next week. During the week he is
offered a tidy sum of money to play for a prestigious man on the same
night that he was to play for the cats. The fiddler does the right thing and
keeps his promise to the cats, and after a few more incidents in which he
also keeps his word even though it is to his immediate disadvantage, he is
rewarded by the royalty of his country for his goodness.
Mind you, it is not just simply stories with a moral either. Alexander
manages to make the stories delightfully funny as well. It almost reminds
me of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories (the method of telling the story, not
the content), and he has some of Kipling's sense of humor as well.
This is one of those rare books that has the mark of a true fairy tale: both
children and adults (those who are not too serious, mind you) are delighted
by them. They are fun enough for children to enjoy and deep enough for
adults to read withough feeling as if they were wasting their time on
nonsense. Such a combination is becoming harder and harder to find
these days, and Alexander provides us with a gem in the fading art of fairy
tale telling.
Overall grade: A
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