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A Kindle of Kittens
A story of a stray cat who changes the lives of several people for the better when finding homes for her kittens.
33 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Rumer Godden
154 books556 followersMargaret Rumer Godden was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably Black Narcissus in 1947 and The River in 1951.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 12, 2020
A Kindle of Kittens is today’s Shabby Sunday share. You can see it at www.readrantrockandroll.com.
A Kindle of Kittens by Rumer Godden is a book I had to do some searching for. We were reading through an old book that had a recommended reading list of vintage children’s books in it, and this one sounded perfect for my 6-year-old. We’re an animal loving family and cherish books like this. We fell in love with the cover right away.
Our copy is a hardcover with a date of 1978. It’s in excellent, near perfect condition with clean, crisp pages. Most copies we found online were quite expensive. We were so lucky to find this one in good used condition on eBay for roughly $12.
The setting is Rye, England, and the tale begins with a town cat— a striped tabby female who doesn’t have a home. They call her Cat, and many kind folk in the town take care of her by giving her scraps to eat. Most are kind to her, while some throw shoes at her, yelling “Shoo!” There’s even a cruel child who throws stones at poor Cat.
One warm evening, she meets a male cat named He-Cat. Not long after their encounter, she begins to feel fat. She-Cat’s going to have kittens of her own—becoming the talk of the town.
The kindly people said, “Kittens! Poor little thing! We must send for the Animal Welfare Man. He will take them away.
The people who said “Shoo!” said the same thing, but not kindly. “Disgraceful! More stray cats! Telephone the Welfare Man at once.”
”Kittens!” said the rude boy. “Drown them in a bucket.”
The kittens are born in an old greenhouse and She-Cat couldn’t be happier. She absolutely loves being a mom. It isn’t long before mother’s milk no longer satiates them as they grow up so quickly. She-Cat knows that soon she must find homes for her offspring.
‘It’s all very well for me,’ thought She-Cat, ‘to walk on the pavements at night, sleep on the bonnets of cars or in a wheelbarrow; to eat what people give me or what I can find in dustbins, but for my kittens…’
Her strong, motherly instincts tell her that her kittens must have homes to live in, to be warm, fed, and safe. She strategically places each one of her kittens with an ideal home, knowing full well they’ll be taken in and not refused.
What’s so beautiful about this story is how She-Cat is such a loving mother, and these little kittens become happy blessings to everyone who receives them. The story has enough of a moral to open up strong discussion on topics such as homelessness, hunger, responsibility, and kindness towards others (especially animals), which is always good to share with children.
I ended up choosing this book today because presently we have an outdoor cat who has two kittens of her own. This has been such a wonderful experience for our family, but my children understand that it isn’t good to continue bringing more cats into this world, and that kittens become adult cats who can then create more cats. This story brings up the important topic of spaying and neutering cats, which is something that obviously wasn’t being practiced yet during this time period and still isn’t in many areas.
The illustrations are wonderful. It was interesting to learn that the illustrator actually visited Rye, England, to paint and sketch the buildings and people in this book.
A Kindle of Kittens has become one of our favorites, and I’m glad we were able to obtain a copy for our home library.
A Kindle of Kittens by Rumer Godden is a book I had to do some searching for. We were reading through an old book that had a recommended reading list of vintage children’s books in it, and this one sounded perfect for my 6-year-old. We’re an animal loving family and cherish books like this. We fell in love with the cover right away.
Our copy is a hardcover with a date of 1978. It’s in excellent, near perfect condition with clean, crisp pages. Most copies we found online were quite expensive. We were so lucky to find this one in good used condition on eBay for roughly $12.
The setting is Rye, England, and the tale begins with a town cat— a striped tabby female who doesn’t have a home. They call her Cat, and many kind folk in the town take care of her by giving her scraps to eat. Most are kind to her, while some throw shoes at her, yelling “Shoo!” There’s even a cruel child who throws stones at poor Cat.
One warm evening, she meets a male cat named He-Cat. Not long after their encounter, she begins to feel fat. She-Cat’s going to have kittens of her own—becoming the talk of the town.
The kindly people said, “Kittens! Poor little thing! We must send for the Animal Welfare Man. He will take them away.
The people who said “Shoo!” said the same thing, but not kindly. “Disgraceful! More stray cats! Telephone the Welfare Man at once.”
”Kittens!” said the rude boy. “Drown them in a bucket.”
The kittens are born in an old greenhouse and She-Cat couldn’t be happier. She absolutely loves being a mom. It isn’t long before mother’s milk no longer satiates them as they grow up so quickly. She-Cat knows that soon she must find homes for her offspring.
‘It’s all very well for me,’ thought She-Cat, ‘to walk on the pavements at night, sleep on the bonnets of cars or in a wheelbarrow; to eat what people give me or what I can find in dustbins, but for my kittens…’
Her strong, motherly instincts tell her that her kittens must have homes to live in, to be warm, fed, and safe. She strategically places each one of her kittens with an ideal home, knowing full well they’ll be taken in and not refused.
What’s so beautiful about this story is how She-Cat is such a loving mother, and these little kittens become happy blessings to everyone who receives them. The story has enough of a moral to open up strong discussion on topics such as homelessness, hunger, responsibility, and kindness towards others (especially animals), which is always good to share with children.
I ended up choosing this book today because presently we have an outdoor cat who has two kittens of her own. This has been such a wonderful experience for our family, but my children understand that it isn’t good to continue bringing more cats into this world, and that kittens become adult cats who can then create more cats. This story brings up the important topic of spaying and neutering cats, which is something that obviously wasn’t being practiced yet during this time period and still isn’t in many areas.
The illustrations are wonderful. It was interesting to learn that the illustrator actually visited Rye, England, to paint and sketch the buildings and people in this book.
A Kindle of Kittens has become one of our favorites, and I’m glad we were able to obtain a copy for our home library.
June 8, 2020
A delightful children’s book for all to enjoy. A story of a mother cat, her daily journeys in a familiar town, and her Kindle of kittens she strives to be responsible for and thinks of a very unique way to do so.
I love cats so naturally I loved is book. The illustrations are exceptional! A short but awesome read for Both children and adults! 🐈
I love cats so naturally I loved is book. The illustrations are exceptional! A short but awesome read for Both children and adults! 🐈
June 26, 2020
Earlier this month, I read a review by my friend Mischenko for this book that had me searching for a copy, and eventually I found a hardcover copy from 1978, which – with the exception of a few minor tears to the cover – is in almost new condition. Since this is out-of-print, it took me a while to hunt one down, but found one that arrived a couple of days ago, and wanted to read it as soon as possible, since it will be heading to my daughter for her children soon.
Illustrated by Lynne Byrnes, the illustrations are perfect, and perfectly charming for parents and children alike, as is the story. Byrnes visited Rye, England, the setting of this story, sketching and painting the houses and people there, some of which are in this book.
Kindle means to ‘give birth,’ giving a whole new meaning to how I typically read books, and this story is about She-Cat who, naturally, meets He-Cat, and when She-Cat suddenly begins to gain weight, she knows it won’t be long before kittens will be along. Being a She-Cat of little means to feed them after they’ve been weaned, she takes note of homes for each kitten, finding the right home for each one.
’The Quiet Woman was to have Sunny. “She needs a little sun in those dark rooms,” She-Cat had thought.’
And so she leaves him on the doorstep, mewing to draw the Quiet Woman to the door, and when she lifted Sunny up, he gave her a shy lick on her chin, and She-Cat watches as she saw tears run down the Quiet Woman’s face, She-Cat could also hear Sunny purring. An act that would change the Quiet Woman’s life, for she was never as quiet again.
Filled with moments like these, where each kitten finds a new home that changes the life of the person who opens their life to this gift, this was a lovely read for me.
Many thanks to Mischenko, whose review can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
or: www.readrantrockandroll.com
April 19, 2015
The best thing about this little book was the illustrations, which are hauntingly beautiful, even if the artist is better at drawing plants and buildings than people and cats. The colours and delicate lines evoked a time of day and atmosphere very well.
Rumer Godden must have had cat related issues, as often in her books there are kittens no one wants, or too many cats. Sometimes both at once, as in In This House of Brede; first an inconvenient kindle of kits is birthed in the wrong place, and then the convent's cats need to be drastically reduced.
The present story does not evoke the customary magic of Godden's better work. To be honest, I was disappointed.
Is it a children's book? Not really. Is it for adults? Not really. It's just a little story, with lovely pictures.
Rumer Godden must have had cat related issues, as often in her books there are kittens no one wants, or too many cats. Sometimes both at once, as in In This House of Brede; first an inconvenient kindle of kits is birthed in the wrong place, and then the convent's cats need to be drastically reduced.
The present story does not evoke the customary magic of Godden's better work. To be honest, I was disappointed.
Is it a children's book? Not really. Is it for adults? Not really. It's just a little story, with lovely pictures.
December 4, 2009
This is a wonderfully illustrated and written story about a stray cat 'she-cat' who one day meets 'he-cat' on the roofs above the town where she lives and has a kindle of kittens. But who will give each of them a good home? The story follows she-cat as she chooses those people who have been kind to her and to whom each kitten is best suited.
My parents read this book to me when I was little and I have read the very same copy to all four of my children over the years. Anyone familiar with cats will appreciate the author's narrative of she-cat's thoughts and the beautiful illustrations are amongst my favourite of all children's books. The one of she-cat sitting on the roof-top to wash as the sun rises over the early morning mist is undoubtedly my favourite illustration of all time.
My parents read this book to me when I was little and I have read the very same copy to all four of my children over the years. Anyone familiar with cats will appreciate the author's narrative of she-cat's thoughts and the beautiful illustrations are amongst my favourite of all children's books. The one of she-cat sitting on the roof-top to wash as the sun rises over the early morning mist is undoubtedly my favourite illustration of all time.
August 31, 2018
Stunning illustrations of an English village and its residents, human and cat, are a highlight of this book. A KINDLE OF KITTENS shows the situation that was inevitable before spay/neuter was widely practiced. A stray "community cat" is fed and cared for by many people in the town, but one day she finds herself with a kindle of kittens--for whom she must find good homes. It's a lot of work--not all humans are kind. (Good for her for resisting the siren call of the old tom cat at the book's conclusion!)
September 24, 2021
thank u to louise for reading me this bedtime story before i zzzzzz
July 14, 2010
I was born and raised with this book as it was written for my grandparent. My grandfather features in the book he was the town crier of Rye and my grandmother was one of the ladies She cat gave a kitten to in the story. I now read this book to my children every night.
June 17, 2021
This is a charming story, but I think what really drew me to it is that a kitten followed me home several months ago. I didn't think I liked cats, had never planned to have one, but much like the people in this story, I think my life is better for having him. Beautiful!
December 28, 2017
Very cute. My daughter did not understand everything, but she still enjoyed it.
December 19, 2018
My just turned two-year-old sat through the whole book, which is a reference in itself. The illustrations are lovely and the story very sweet.
June 15, 2019
Cat is used to living on the streets - but when she has four little kittens, she has to find homes for each of them.
October 28, 2020
Fantastic book for cat lovers
January 22, 2026
A sweet picture book about a mama cat choosing homes for her kittens.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews