The Cats of Tanglewood Forest. Charles de Lint. Illustrated by Charles Vess. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Co. (Distributed in Canada by Hachette Book Group), 2013. 285 pp., hardcover & eBook, $19.99 (hc.). ISBN 978-0-316-05357-0 (hc.), ISBN 978-0-316-21551-0 (eBook). Subject Headings: Magic-Fiction. Cats-Fiction. Trees-Fiction. Snakebites-Fiction. Orphans-Fiction. Grades 3-6 / Ages 8-11. Review by Tara Stieglitz. **** /4

excerpt:

The old woman bristled. “My patience isn’t endless, girl. Tell me now, or we’ll see how a few days locked in a dark cellar will loosen your tongue.”

“All right,” Lillian said.

Except what she did instead was kick the bucket of water across the floor, pop the lid off the jar she was still holding, and toss the big spider at them. They screeched and jumped to wither side as Lillian darted between them. Joen made a grab for her, but he slipped in the water and crashed down hard. She leaped right over his reaching arm and sped out the door and across the packed dirt in front of the house.

Lillian is an orphan who lives with her aunt on an isolated farm near Tanglewood Forest. She spends her days interacting with the many stray cats that live in the forest and exploring it, looking for the fairies and evidence of the magic that she has heard about from stories. She finally has an unwitting encounter with the magic of the forest when a group of the stray cats transform her into a kitten in order to save her life from a snake bite. Dismayed by her transformation, Lillian embarks on a quest through the forest to reverse the magic of the cats and save herself from the fatal snakebite. Along the way, Lillian encounters talking animals, witches, forest spirits and the formidable bear people. She also comes to trust her instincts and value her own resourcefulness.

     The Cats of Tanglewood Forest is written in a classic fairy tale style, with a character on a seemingly impossible quest. The writing is timeless, and the characters are enchanting and engaging. The quality of the writing is complemented by the colourful and detailed illustrations by Charles Vess. The prose and the illustrations work together to tell an enchanting modern fairy tale. The Cats of Tanglewood Forest is an excellent choice for fans of fantasy or fairy tales and is a recommended purchase for public and school libraries.

Highly Recommended.

Tara Stieglitz is a librarian at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, AB.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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