I loved Nicola Bayley’s illustrations from three or four, when I met The Patchwork Cat. Regardless, the book remained a favourite beyond early childhood, and encouraged me to look closely at artwork. None of these attempts survived – to memory, none were completed to my satisfaction. When learning to read, we gain confidence through repetition of favourite passages.Īs a teenager, I spent a lot of time trying to reproduce the illustrations. These sections fit in with the flow of the story, but they also become separate rhymes. In places, such as the list of Mowzer’s weekly menu, it lends itself to rereading. I was delighted to find it on YouTube, many years later. Left to my own devices, I’m not certain it would have got back to our friends. Friends had recorded it from the television, (I kid you not, on a VHS,) alongside a documentary about the making of the film. Is the great storm-cat real, or are the cats explaining the storm through narrative? If so, what might the story of Tom Bawcock be about? This is a legend within a legend, offering excellent scope for discussion about what legends do. The reader is privy to this ‘secret’ – to the knowledge Mowzer has of the Great Storm-Cat. The cats in the story know more than their human counterparts.

Inspired by the Cornish legend of Old Tom Bawcock, The Mousehole Cat has become a primary school staple since traditional tales were written into the National Curriculum. Besides, she knows no human would stand a chance against the wrath of the Great Storm Cat. Old Tom knows it is his duty to go out and fish. The residents of Mousehole are left to starve. In a community which relies on fish for its table, this is a disaster. No boat can leave the safety of Mousehole harbour. Mowzer knows it is the great strom-cat, who plays with men on the sea as if they were mice. Tom takes his fishing boat out and catches fish for Mowzer’s supper. Mowzer and Tom live in their cottage, comfortable with each other’s company and their well-worn routines.

The mousehole cat by antonia barber