Curly Cat the Acrobat

Curly Cat dreams of being a trapeze artist but does not have the training or the body. He spends hours watching as other cats train, and convinces himself that he can fly. He realises he is wrong when he sneaks into the Catabatics Training School when everyone has gone home. What could have been a disaster, turns into a triumph as Curly Cat remembers one of the most important things about being a cat – his tail.

The back of the book is filled with facts about cats, the flying trapeze, the19th century acrobat Jules Leotard, and 20th century female acrobat Terry Cavaretta.

This is Jennifer Somervell’s second book featuring Curly Cat. In her author’s note at the back of the book, she says, “I wanted Curly Cat to face his fear and overcome it.” This is a valuable idea to pass on to children, although I’m not sure that Curly Cat went about it the right way!