Not really a fantasy, it just has speaking animals interacting with humans who don't hear what they say. Cecil enjoys going out on fishing boats for a day, but when his brother Anton is captured for service on an overseas journey their mother implores Cecil to go find him. Chapters alternate between each brother's experiences on ships, thru storms and becalmed seas, pirates, confrontations with tough rats, help from whales or dolphins, deserted islands with hungry vultures. Will they ever meet up?
For middle school readers with a good vocabulary and for cat lovers of any age. This book would have benefitted from a sketch of a sailing ship with terms identified: e.g. spar, mainsail, starboard, fo'castle. ( )

Mildly interesting adventure, written for children. The cats - Anton and Cecil, and several others - are vividly drawn and quite convincingly catlike; their adventures, much less so. Anton, the homelover, gets shanghaied onto a ship; Cecil, who's long wanted to sail, goes out to "rescue" him. The way they end up meeting is highly unlikely on many levels - where did the people go (Marie Celeste? But that was a bigger ship, I think)? And have there really been cat, and mouse, and ferret generations repeating a prophesy about something so mundane? Eh. Cute story, happy ending, not for me. Though I probably will read the sequel, since I have it. ( )

Cute book for older kids (grades 3-6). It will appeal to those who like stories with talking animals. Also good for siblings, as we have two cat brothers who are different but definitely love each other.

Cecil and Anton live in a sea-side village and are very different. An unexpected incident puts one of them in danger, and the other must go to the rescue.

The book brings in some fantasy elements (and as the book moves forward it definitely leans towards the fantasy side of talking animal stories), and has a nod to the famous "Mary Celeste", although this will leave most of the intended readers a bit confused. Some nice illustrations add to the story. ( )

I'm not a big fan of books with anthropomorphic animals, but this was great fun. The language is lovely and the descriptions are delightful. The animals do very animal like things, but we are privy to their thoughts. These two brothers are very lovable. The adventure very real though at points it stretches into the fantastic. Thank you Algonquin for sharing this wonderful title with me through NetGalley. ( )

Anton and Cecil are brothers, but the two cats could not be more unalike. Cecil is an adventurous black cat, big and bold, and instead of being scared by the tales of cats being kidnapped to go on ships he rather thinks it would be an adventure. Anton, a small gray cat, really only loves music and can't even be bothered to catch food most of the time. Despite Cecil's brief trips to sea on a fishing ship, it is Anton who is catnapped and stolen away and Cecil who must venture forth on a hopeless quest to find them.

As they cross the ocean, a mystical prophecy of finding what they've lost when they see a cat's eye keeps them going as they endure shipwrecks, storms, pirates, deserted islands, terrifying creatures and a whale who may or may not be friendly.

This story felt very old-fashioned to me, but I enjoyed it even so. Although some of the publicity bills it as an adventure tale, readers picking it up and expecting thrills and excitement will be disappointed. It's an older genre of animal story, where the animals are more anthropomorphous and the action is gentler, even when it involves something that could be scary like shipwrecks or pirates. It reminded me of the Doctor Dolittle stories with their special quality of mild danger, gentle humor, and enjoyment of simple storytelling.

Verdict: This won't be for every kid, most of whom prefer the more genre-ized modern fiction but if you have fans of Kate DiCamillo they may enjoy this return to an older, gentler storytelling tradition.

ISBN: 9781616202460; Published October 8, 2013 by Algonquin Young Readers/Workman Publishing; ARC provided by the publisher at ALA annual 2013