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The Little People steal a farmer's baby girl, and only Catkin--a tiny, golden-haired cat charged with the child's care--can save her, by solving three baffling riddles.
Age Range: 6 and up
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Candlewick; 1st U.S. ed edition (October 3, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1564024857
ISBN-13: 978-1564024855
Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 9.5 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,177,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #86 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > European #652 in Books > Children's Books > Geography & Cultures > Cultural Studies > General #1140 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Multicultural
Catkin is the smallest kitten in the litter of cats belonging to the Wise Woman, who names him for the tiny catkins growing outside her window. She takes him to the home of a farmer and his wife to watch over their new-born daughter Carrie, but little does anyone know how great this tiny cat will soon become.Carrie and Catkin are inseparable until one day Catkin is distracted by a butterfly and leaves the baby to her sleep, and in his absence the child is taken away by the Lord and Lady of the Little People and their followers, leaving a changeling in her place. The farmer and his wife are devastated, and the Wise Woman sends Catkin to the underground world of the Little People to win the child back, giving him some valuable advice - never reveal his name to the fairies, for with the knowledge of his name they could bind him to them forever.The real beauty of this exceptional story is twofold: first, that although it reads like a traditional fairytale, it is completely original. Yet despite this, it turns to real folktale elements and styles to blend into the narrative, making it vaugely familiar - ideas such as the hollow hills of the fairies, the changeling baby, the power of a simple name, the threefold riddle competition, and the nature of the waters of the two powerful trees - the willow for forgetfulness, and the hazel for wisdom. Added to this is the perfect melding of all these components, for instance the Wise Woman advices Catkin to drink only from the hazel tree waters to obtain great wisdom, whilst Carrie has already drunk from the willow waters and forgotten her home.
Catkin
