Review: The Cat Who Saved Books

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Still not a cat person.

The story is about Rintaro Natsuki, who has just lost his grandfather. He's a bit of an outcast because of his hermit ways, so once his grandfather passes he decides to skip school (no one will miss him) and instead seeks refuge at Natsuki Books - his grandfather's secondhand bookstore. It's a solid plan until a talking cat shows up and asks Natsuki to help him rescue some books.

From the get-go, this cat is kind of a jerk. I think there might be some translation issues, too, because it's a cute, sweet story but then things sometimes get a bit more heated than you'd expect. I think that's probably because there's a lack of English words to match the Japanese words used. Still, there's no question that this cat is a jerk in Japanese, too. He just shows up, whisks the poor kid away and says, 'goodluck, coz if you fail you'll never get home again.' Then the kid has to do all this smooth talking about how amazing books are.

Now here's one thing I did really enjoy: the books. The love for books. Natsuki is a hardcore booklover, so he speaks enthusiastically about how books can be enjoyed slow or fast, how books teach us things, and transport us, and how even though less people are reading, books have no lesser value for it. I mean, he did get pretty preachy at times (apparently it's good to hate books because it means they're teaching you something - I strongly disagree) but overall he's just a giant book nerd like the rest of us and that's something I can get behind.

For a short book, it does kind of harp on for a long time, but I think kids will get a lot out of this one. It's a really cute story about friendship, empathy, identity, and books. Featuring a cat. Who is a jerk.

It won't be deep enough for some, but this is a warm pick-me-up for people looking for something a little more fuzzy. It has some interesting ideas about books but ultimately it's about showing compassion to others and treating people (and books!) with respect. Can't complain about that message at all.

With thanks to Macmillan for a copy

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