Go Home, Cat!
Go Home, Cat!
Sonya Hartnett
Lucia Masciullo
Puffin, 2022
32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99
9781760899493
When Nicholas finds a silver coin while he is playing in the garden, his first thoughts are that he can buy his favourite liquorice with it. So he sets off for the shops – the reader can follow his journey on the map on the endpages – only to discover that his beloved cat is following him. No matter how often he says ,”Go home, Cat,” the cat keeps following. He crosses the road carefully but just as he pushes open the sweet shop door, he sees Cat stuck in the middle of the road, a very dangerous place to be…
Celebrating nothing more than the love and bond between a boy and his pet, this is a heart-warming, almost old-fashioned story that harks back to an era that perhaps many of its target audience are unfamiliar with. For who among them can remember when there were little sweet shops in the main street, their windows filled with all sorts of delights and the anticipation of what to choose on the rare occasion there was money to spare, being as exciting as the purchase itself? OH&S inspectors would be down like a ton of jaffas on such a place now, but this story took me back to Mary Gray’s lolly shop (and her fabulous fudge) in the Whitcombe & Tomb’s arcade in my childhood Christchurch, aided and abetted by Masciullo’s artistry which takes us back to a different time! How did we survive being offered handmade lollies in jars and trays, carefully scooped into white paper bags, sealed with a twist? Definitely dreaming with eyes open, here!
A companion story to Come Down, Cat, this is a nostalgic trip down memory lane that needs to be shared between grandparent and grandchild.
