Nellie: A Cat on Her Own

by Natalie Babbitt, Natalie Babbitt (Illustrator)

Overview

From the bestselling and award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting comes Natalie Babbitt's loveable cat story for kids.

Nellie, a cat marionette who loves to dance, finds adventure and freedom on a moonlit hilltop. Children will delight in turning the pages of this stunning picture book, again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429955492
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	04/01/2011
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Artist and writer Natalie Babbitt (1932–2016) is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting and many other brilliantly original books for young people. As the mother of three small children, she began her career in 1966 by illustrating The Forty-Ninth Magician, written by her husband, Samuel Babbitt. She soon tried her own hand at writing, publishing two picture books in verse. Her first novel, TheSearch for Delicious, was published in 1969 and established her reputation for creating magical tales with profound meaning. Kneeknock Rise earned Babbitt a Newbery Honor in 1971, and she went on to write—and often illustrate—many more picture books, story collections,and novels. She also illustrated the five volumes in the Small Poems series by Valerie Worth. In 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture, and in 2016 a musical version premiered on Broadway. Born and raised in Ohio, Natalie Babbitt lived her adult life in the Northeast.
Artist and writer Natalie Babbitt (1932–2016) is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting and many other brilliantly original books for young people. As the mother of three small children, she began her career in 1966 by illustrating The Forty-Ninth Magician, written by her husband, Samuel Babbitt. She soon tried her own hand at writing, publishing two picture books in verse. Her first novel, The Search for Delicious, was published in 1969 and established her reputation for creating magical tales with profound meaning. Kneeknock Rise earned Babbitt a Newbery Honor in 1971, and she went on to write—and often illustrate—many more picture books, story collections, and novels. She also illustrated the five volumes in the Small Poems series by Valerie Worth. In 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture, and in 2016 a musical version premiered on Broadway. Born and raised in Ohio, Natalie Babbitt lived her adult life in the Northeast.

Read an Excerpt

Nellie

A Cat on Her Own

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By Natalie Babbitt

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Copyright © 1989 Natalie Babbitt
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4299-5549-2

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CHAPTER 1

There was a little marionette once, named Nellie, who hung from a comfortable peg in the cottage of a clever old woman.

The old woman had made Nellie from wood and yarn and broom straws, and every afternoon would take her down from her peg, wind up the music box, and pull her strings to make her leap and dip and spin, just like a dancer on a stage.

There was a real cat living in the cottage, too. The old woman called him Big Tom. But he didn't belong to her, as Nellie did. He belonged only to himself. Still, he liked a warm fire and a bowl of milk, and so he stayed. And every afternoon he would watch in a puzzled way while Nellie danced.

One night, when the old woman was asleep, Big Tom said to Nellie, "It would be better if you danced all on your own."

"I could never do that," said Nellie.

"Moonshine!" said Big Tom. And he sprang up to the window and went out into the dark, as he always did, to go wherever it is cats go and do whatever they do.

Nellie stayed behind, as she always did. She never wondered where it was that Big Tom went or what he did. She was much too busy thinking how lovely it would be when she could dance again.

It was a safe little life for Nellie, but then one day the old woman, who was very, very old, fell sick, and after a time she died. Her friends all came and took her away to the churchyard, and Nellie and Big Tom were left alone.

"Whatever shall I do," wailed Nellie, "without my clever old woman?"

"The thing to do," said Big Tom, "is go on to the next old woman.

"But I belonged to this old woman," said Nellie. "I don't want another."

"Belong to yourself, then, like me," said Big Tom. "That way, when changes come, you'll always be ready to hold your tail high and move along."

"I can't hold my tail high and move along," said Nellie. "I can't dance, either — not without my clever old woman. And you have no idea how lovely it is to dance."

"Moonshine!" said Big Tom. "Still, you mustn't stay here. You'd better come with me." And he began to pull off the strings that were fastened to Nellie.

"Oh!" cried Nellie. "Don't take away my strings!"

"If I don't," said Big Tom, "they'll get in the way and tangle up." And he went on pulling till at last Nellie dropped to the floor with a clunk. "There," he said. "You're free."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Nellie by Natalie Babbitt. Copyright © 1989 Natalie Babbitt. Excerpted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Title Page,
Story and Pictures,
Copyright Page,

Editorial Reviews

Nellie, a cat marionette made ``from wood and yarn and broom straws'' by an old woman, loves dancing every afternoon to the tune of the music box, but never considers Big Tom's suggestion that she dance alone. When the old woman dies, Nellie's ``safe little life'' ends. Big Tom, a real cat, tells Nellie to find another old woman, or to `` `Belong to yourself, then, like me.' '' Big Tom frees Nellie from her strings, sitting her in the old woman's hat; the pair set off into the ``wide, wild world,'' with Big Tom pulling Nellie along in the hat by its ribbons, like a cart and pony. That night, as the moon shines full in the sky and all the cats meet to dance together, Nellie feels ``a stirring in her wooden limbs . . . and she leapt and dipped and spun, like a dancer on the stage, and the cats all danced around her.'' At moonset, Nellie decides to stay in the woods and dance by herself rather than live with another old woman. This gentle fable, with its message of freedom, is lovingly brought to life in Babbitt's charming, magical full-page color illustrations, one for each page of text--with a two-page spread of the moonlit cat dance. Ages 3-up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly