CAT BOOK: CATLANTIS by Anna Starobinets

How about that title? When I was recently contacted to see if  I would be interested in reviewing Catlantis by Anna Starobinets, I hesitated.  I have been deliberately cutting back on the number of book reviews that are written on our blog, (for a host of reasons, too many to list!), but Catlantis "got me." Truth be told,  it was the title of the book that caught my eye. . The title is clever and eye-catching.  The title lured me in.  I am glad that it did!

Cover Courtesy of  New York Review Books

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 13,2016

"A PITCH-PURRFECT ADVENTURE STORY

OF TIME TRAVEL, LOVE,

AND A TABBY'S SEARCH FOR NINE LIVES"

Catlantis is a contemporary Russian children's classic that will soon be available in the U.S. Do NOT let the word "children's" prevent you from reading this witty  "feline fantasy of the most amusing and strange kind. "

Catlantis is a thought-provoking tale that is full of wonder. The plot is highly inventive and will transport ALL readers, (not just those in grades 3 through 7 which is the intended audience for this book).  through time and space to a cat-ruled civilization. A "cat-ruled civilization?" Now you're talking!!! 

Having a heavy background in Philosophy,  Catlantis immediately drew me in with "its deep animal wisdom, reminiscent of Aesop."

Courtesy of New York Review Books

AN EXCERPT:

And the mighty Pussiedon took pity on the cats. He left each breed with one magical ability,

Striped cats were left with the ability to see without using their eyes; that is, they could look into the past and foretell the future.

Spotted cats were left with the ability to hear without using their ears; that is, they could read people's minds.

Courtesy of New York Review Books

Ginger cats were left with the ability to time travel.

Gray cats were left with the ability to cross the frontiers of space: that is, they could travel from east to west to north to south in a mere instant.

Courtesy of New York Review Books

White cats were left with the ability to practice white magic.

Black cats were left with the ability to practice black magic.

ATTENTION BLACK CAT ENTHUSIASTS!!! When you begin reading Catlantis, at first you might be put off, as I was,  by how black cats generally, and the black cat Noir (who is competing with Baguette for the love of Purriana),are described throughout parts of this book. I NEVER, EVER reveal book endings, but believe me when I tell you, at first  I was upset, I wanted to close the book and not review it, but I continued on......all I will say is you will be HAPPY that you did!

"Catlantis is a modern-day metaphysical fable for curious cat-loving kids (AND ADULTS) of all purr-suasions." The  "whimsical otherworldliness" quality of this book is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:Anna Starobinet's tale chronicles the journey of the lazy Baguette----a house cat with few motivations beyond sleeping and watching birds out his window until he falls in love with Purriana, and, as by chance, discovers his magical ancestry.

A descendant of the magic Catlanteans, Baguette becomes implicated in a quest to restore cats' nine lives by retrieving the Catlantic flowers from the sunken city of Catlantis, fallen into the depths of the Catlantic Ocean long ago.

All the cats of the world have been awaiting his deed, but can Baguette, a lovelorn and terminally lazy tabby, succeed in fulfilling the prophecy?

You will have to read this winner to find out!

Catlantis is a "modern children's story written with the wit and grace of the old masters." The illustrations by Andrzej Klimowski, are "charming and graceful,  contemporary and memorable, they bring the Catlantean world in all its bewitching strangeness to life."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anna Starobinets is an award-winning Russian novelist, scriptwriter, and journalist. In addition to her children's books, she is best known as a writer of dystopian and metaphysical fictions for adults, including An Awkward Age, which was a finalist for Russia's National Bestseller Prize. Catlantis is her first children's book to be translated into English.

Jane Bugaeva was born in Russia, and emigrated with her family to the United States at the age of six. Bugaeva translates children's literature from the Russian.

Andrzej Klimowski is the author of graphic novels and a designer of film and theater posters as well as book covers, which include the entire Everyman Collection of P.G. Wodehouse.  He is Professor of Illustration at the Royal College of Art.

Catlantis

NYR Children's Collection
136 pages
ISBN: 9781681370002