Lene Mayer-Skumanz

Little Grey lives in the park, spending time beneath the yew tree with the other stray cats. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, is a distant memory of a warm, comfortable home with a loving person. When she encounters a kindly-spoken photographer at the village's Christmas fair, she decides that this will be her new human, following the man home. It might take a bit of persistence, but Little Grey knows she will carry the day. After all, humans "are not as quick and as certain as cats are..."

Originally published in German as Die Weihnachtskatze, this heartwarming holiday tale features two things I absolutely love: Christmas and cats! Little Grey is an engaging feline heroine, and her slow reawakening to the idea of living with a human, something she has not done in some time, is a pleasure to witness. The accompanying artwork from illustrator Ivan Gantschev is quite engaging as well, with an almost patchwork-quilt-like composition of geometric shapes. My only quibble, and it is something I have been noticing recently with books from this publisher (minedition, of Hong Kong), is that there is no reference to the original German edition of One Cat's Special Christmas on the colophon, nor is there any mention of the translator's identity. As someone interested in issues of translation, this was disappointing. Leaving this aside, this is one I would recommend to young cat and animal lovers in the market for new Christmas stories.… (meer)