Reading the Meow Review: The Downing Street Cats by Neil Sean

My Interest

If you know my likes, you can figure this one out fast. If you don’t then here goes: I can only recall 3 years of my life without a cat! And no, my time in Malawi was not among them. I had a great cat, Sammy, in Malawi (his name was Sam and he and his littermates were named for characters in Lonesome Dove by the Peace Corps volunteer who took in his pregnant mother). He was a “talker.” When he saw me entering the yard from the kitchen window he started calling to me. Wonderful welcome.

I also follow the Royals, albeit not that mess in California, thank you. Neil Sean, “In the very heart of London,” is a Youtube (and I gather TV) reporter who covers the royals and throws in interesting historical tidbits. He once mentioned he’d written a book somewhat based on Larry, the Downing Street Cat. I had to read it.

Naturally, my first book review is of a book I left off my TBR for this event! You can read my introductory post here for this year’s Reading the Meow, hosted by blogger Literary Potpourri. As the name suggests, Reading the Meow, is for reading cat books of any type. 

Left-to-right: Larry at 10 Downing, Gladstone at Treasury, and Palmerston at the Foreign Office

The Story and My Thoughts

Larry, the Downing Street Cat (see the video at the bottom of this post), is a true working cat.  “As ever, let me explain…”  [Neil’s other tagline] He is employed as Chief Mouser at Number 10 Downing Street–the residence of the British Prime Minister. Neil’s story (21 pages with illustrations by Michael Dias) includes the  two other cats in the neighborhood–Palmerston, cat of the Foreign Office [Secretary of State] and Gladstone, cat of the Treasury (to my fellow Americans who are likely clueless, these are two extraordinarily well-know 19th Century Prime Minsters’ names).

Palmerston sees himself as the leader of the three and he is the one telling the story. A change of command is happening at 10 Downing and the cats are inundated by reporters and photographers, including a few reports well-known to most of the UK. The stress of a new boss looming leads to a few scraps between the cats–one caught on camera. We learn interesting tidbits such as preferred sleeping spots like the boss’s in-box and that PC [policeman] Eric is a good guy. All three cats were wonderful.

This was a cute story, appropriate for any age, but written as a children’s book. I was only disappointed that one of the cats didn’t get to sneak into to the car and go with the new boss to Kiss Hands with the [now late] Queen and accept her offer to form a government. No matter, it’s still a cute book.

For preschool or early elementary teachers this book would be the perfect introduction to the basics of who the Prime Minister is and other simple government ideas. 

The Downing Street Cats by Neil Sean, illustrations by Michael Dias