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The Killer Cat #4
The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash by Anne Fine
It was my birthday. How was I supposed to know it wouldn't be the only party around town on that dark and dreary Halloween night?So things ended up in a bit of a mess. (Well, more than a mess, really. A complete disaster.) But it was not my fault so don't blame me . . .Another laugh-out-loud Killer Cat adventure, by the award-winning and celebrated Anne Fine. Perfect for readers of 7+.
Paperback Bunko
First published August 7, 2008
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About the author
Anne Fine
392 books286 followersThough readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.
Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)
Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.
Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.
Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)
Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.
Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 28, 2025
Yes, and like with the first of Anne Fine's Killer Cat early middle grade chapter books, with The Diary of a Killer Cat (1994), my inner child (from about the ages of six to nine) has certainly and once again quite nicely enjoyed the engaging textual simplicity as well as the exuberant entertainment value of Fine's The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash (published in 2008 as the fourth instalment of the Killer Cat series), and as such she also delightfully adores main protagonist Tuffy the cat and finds his first person narrative voice both humorous and engaging, albeit in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash also just a wee bit too anthropomorphic since Tuffy keeps chatting in English with his feline friends and they keep answering him (and that yes, the textual simplicity of Anne Fine's story is both expected and also in my opinion rather necessary since The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash has obviously and specifically been penned for beginning, for recently independent readers), but well and indeed, that my older adult self does feel more than a trifle conflicted regarding some parts of The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash. Because albeit as a story in and of itself The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash with Tuffy's birthday celebration versus his human family's Halloween party (and how Tuffy and his feline friends feel overlooked, try to hold the birthday party in a variety of strange and weirdly unsuitable places and finally end up pretty hilariously and all encompassingly crashing and trashing the Halloween party is generally quite laugh out loud funny, sorry, but there are specifically two bones of textual contention especially for adult me regarding The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash (and which also make my star rating only three stars, although I still think that The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash is very delightfully humour-filled and as such also recommended for the intended audience, for the six to nine year olds mentioned above).
Now for one, although in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash Tuffy is not being depicted by Anne Fine as the unrelenting hunter and killer of songbirds that he is in The Diary of a Killer Cat, well, Ellie and her family in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash, they are still (and in my opinion quite acceptingly and positively so) shown by Fine as obviously having no qualms whatsoever regarding letting their pet freely and continuously roam outside and with there even being a designated cat door so that Tuffy can freely enter and exit the house at will (something that my inner child does not really mind, but something that I as an adult find totally cringe-worthy since I am absolutely against cats being allowed outside and unsupervised, and not to mention that I find all unsupervised pets outside a huge issue and that the outside dogs in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash and how they and Tuffy's feline gang keep chasing each other is both not funny and also makes adult me feel pretty much annoyed). And for two, and in my admittedly pretty biased opinion (as horse lover), Anne Fine equally should not in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash describe it as something funny and not as something inherently problematic that Tuffy and company are deliberately attempting to spook the farmer's horses when they are trying to have their felines birthday party in the barn (for no, deliberately trying to frighten by nature skittish horses is never funny and should also not be described as something humorous in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash).
Now for one, although in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash Tuffy is not being depicted by Anne Fine as the unrelenting hunter and killer of songbirds that he is in The Diary of a Killer Cat, well, Ellie and her family in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash, they are still (and in my opinion quite acceptingly and positively so) shown by Fine as obviously having no qualms whatsoever regarding letting their pet freely and continuously roam outside and with there even being a designated cat door so that Tuffy can freely enter and exit the house at will (something that my inner child does not really mind, but something that I as an adult find totally cringe-worthy since I am absolutely against cats being allowed outside and unsupervised, and not to mention that I find all unsupervised pets outside a huge issue and that the outside dogs in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash and how they and Tuffy's feline gang keep chasing each other is both not funny and also makes adult me feel pretty much annoyed). And for two, and in my admittedly pretty biased opinion (as horse lover), Anne Fine equally should not in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash describe it as something funny and not as something inherently problematic that Tuffy and company are deliberately attempting to spook the farmer's horses when they are trying to have their felines birthday party in the barn (for no, deliberately trying to frighten by nature skittish horses is never funny and should also not be described as something humorous in The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash).
September 3, 2019
Vă era dor de pisica asasină? Ei bine, revine cu o nouă poveste, o nouă aventură, o nouă trăsnaie! M-am amuzat copios citind ce gândește Tuffy, un motan isteț, năzdrăvan și răutăcios, despre familia lui ”de oameni”. Nici vorbă de pisica blândă, torcăcioasă și dornică de mângâiere și atenție, așa cum ne-am închipui noi. A, e tare dornic de atenție, dar așa cum crede el că ar merita! Și e tare pus pe șotii!
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/ani...
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/ani...
May 8, 2016
Fabulous good fun, even from an adult perspective.
August 30, 2018
Second book in the killer cat series that I have read, and the fourth in the series, and I get the joke, although it doesn't stop it being hilarious and the set ups are great, the story is humorous and the overall effect is a great fun read. Anyone who has had a cat like this would enjoy these books.
October 31, 2019
Another hilarious Killer Cat Instalment. This time celebrating his birthday in unique cat style, appropriately on Halloween. I love the thought and Preparation the cats put into the celebration. Love the illustrations.
June 12, 2021
L'histoire comme le titre est top. Malheureusement l'histoire est beaucoup trop courte j'aurais pas dis non à une dizaine de pages supplémentaires. Les dessins sont assez drôle il faut bien l'avouer. En résumé une petite histoire top avant de dormir ou pour passer le temps.
May 8, 2017
Un bon roman rigolo pour un jeune lecteur qui commence.
December 12, 2017
Again, Tuffy is the best!
September 19, 2018
Year 2's think this is a great book. Funny story.
November 22, 2021
Really enjoyed the interaction with dogs, and general mischief all round. Another great short.
March 27, 2022
Very funny
November 24, 2022
Letto in italiano.
Bello, ma troppo corto
Bello, ma troppo corto
April 19, 2023
Funny finale to the 4 book box set. My son absolutely loved these and we will revisit these again. This book 4/5. Series 9-10/10!!!
December 9, 2023
This book was a little boring with a little bit of humer. It was also a little bit easy and I recon year threes and up would like it.
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September 7, 2024This story was so boring that I almost fell asleep reading it. I didn't see anything funny about a stupid, spiteful cat. If it's anything, this book simply highlights why people hate cats.
March 8, 2017
Everything ended up in a big disaster - which was very funny!
July 27, 2011
Encore une aventure du chat assassin, comme à chaque épisode c'est un régal!
October 21, 2014
small book to read but enjoyable.
wasn't sure if I would like i but was very surprised.
wasn't sure if I would like i but was very surprised.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews