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Captain Kidd's Cat
Being the True and Dolorous Chronicle of Wm Kidd, Gent. & Merchant of New York, Late Captain of the Adventure Galley; of the Vicissitudes Attending His Unfortunate Cruise in Eastern Waters, of His Incarceration in Newgate Prison, of His Unjust Trial and Execution, as Narrated by His Faithful Cat, McDermot, who Ought to Know
McDermot is a black-and-white cat with a ruby in one ear who sails the high seas with the infamous Captain William Kidd. This lively narrative, told by McDermot, is an account of life aboard the Adventure Galley and the many troubles Captain Kidd and McDermot get themselves into and out of. Written in the spirit of Ben and Me and Mr. Revere and I, this pet’s-eye-view of history is sure to delight and enthrall young readers.
McDermot is a black-and-white cat with a ruby in one ear who sails the high seas with the infamous Captain William Kidd. This lively narrative, told by McDermot, is an account of life aboard the Adventure Galley and the many troubles Captain Kidd and McDermot get themselves into and out of. Written in the spirit of Ben and Me and Mr. Revere and I, this pet’s-eye-view of history is sure to delight and enthrall young readers.
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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116 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lawson
121 books77 followersBorn in New York City, Lawson spent his early life in Montclair, New Jersey. Following high school, he studied art for three years under illustrator Howard Giles (an advocate of dynamic symmetry as conceived by Jay Hambidge) at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now Parsons School of Design), marrying fellow artist and illustrator Marie Abrams in 1922. His career as an illustrator began in 1914, when his illustration for a poem about the invasion of Belgium was published in Harper's Weekly. He went on to publish in other magazines, including the Ladies Home Journal, Everybody's Magazine, Century Magazine, Vogue, and Designer.
During World War I, Lawson was a member of the first U.S. Army camouflage unit (called the American Camouflage Corps), in connection with which he served in France with other artists, such as Barry Faulkner, Sherry Edmundson Fry, William Twigg-Smith and Kerr Eby. In his autobiography, Faulkner recalls that Lawson had a remarkable "sense of fantasy and humor", which made him especially valuable when the camoufleurs put on musical shows for the children of the French women who worked with them on camouflage
After the war, Lawson resumed his work as an artist, and in 1922, illustrated his first children's book, The Wonderful Adventures of Little Prince Toofat. Subsequently he illustrated dozens of children's books by other authors, including such well-known titles as The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf (which later became an animated film by the Walt Disney Studios) and Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. In total, he illustrated as many as forty books by other authors, and another seventeen books that he himself was author of, including Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin By His Good Mouse Amos and Rabbit Hill. His work was widely admired, and he became the first, and so far only, person to be given both the Caldecott Medal (They Were Strong and Good, 1941) and the Newbery Medal (Rabbit Hill, 1945). Ben and Me earned a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1961.
Lawson was a witty and inventive author, and his children's fiction is no less engaging for grown-ups. One of his inventive themes was the idea of a person's life as seen through the eyes of a companion animal, an approach that he first realized in Ben and Me. Some of his later books employed the same device (which was compatible with his style of illustration) to other figures, such as Christopher Columbus (I Discover Columbus) and Paul Revere (Mr. Revere and I). Captain Kidd's Cat, which he both wrote and illustrated, is narrated by the feline in the title, named McDermot, who tells the story of the famous pirate's ill-starred voyage, in the process of which he is shown to have been a brave, upright, honest, hen-pecked man betrayed by his friends and calumniated by posterity. His artistic witticism and creativity can be seen in The Story of Ferdinand the Bull, where he illustrates a cork tree as a tree that bears corks as fruits, ready to be picked and placed into bottles.
In the early 1930s, Lawson became interested in etching. One of the resulting prints was awarded the John Taylor Arms Prize by the Society of American Etchers.
Lawson died in 1957 at his home in Westport, Connecticut, in a house that he referred to as Rabbit Hill, since it had been the setting for his book of the same name. He was 64. He is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. An annual conference is held in his honor in Westport.
The Robert Lawson Papers are in the University of Minnesota Children's Literature Research Collections.
During World War I, Lawson was a member of the first U.S. Army camouflage unit (called the American Camouflage Corps), in connection with which he served in France with other artists, such as Barry Faulkner, Sherry Edmundson Fry, William Twigg-Smith and Kerr Eby. In his autobiography, Faulkner recalls that Lawson had a remarkable "sense of fantasy and humor", which made him especially valuable when the camoufleurs put on musical shows for the children of the French women who worked with them on camouflage
After the war, Lawson resumed his work as an artist, and in 1922, illustrated his first children's book, The Wonderful Adventures of Little Prince Toofat. Subsequently he illustrated dozens of children's books by other authors, including such well-known titles as The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf (which later became an animated film by the Walt Disney Studios) and Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. In total, he illustrated as many as forty books by other authors, and another seventeen books that he himself was author of, including Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin By His Good Mouse Amos and Rabbit Hill. His work was widely admired, and he became the first, and so far only, person to be given both the Caldecott Medal (They Were Strong and Good, 1941) and the Newbery Medal (Rabbit Hill, 1945). Ben and Me earned a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1961.
Lawson was a witty and inventive author, and his children's fiction is no less engaging for grown-ups. One of his inventive themes was the idea of a person's life as seen through the eyes of a companion animal, an approach that he first realized in Ben and Me. Some of his later books employed the same device (which was compatible with his style of illustration) to other figures, such as Christopher Columbus (I Discover Columbus) and Paul Revere (Mr. Revere and I). Captain Kidd's Cat, which he both wrote and illustrated, is narrated by the feline in the title, named McDermot, who tells the story of the famous pirate's ill-starred voyage, in the process of which he is shown to have been a brave, upright, honest, hen-pecked man betrayed by his friends and calumniated by posterity. His artistic witticism and creativity can be seen in The Story of Ferdinand the Bull, where he illustrates a cork tree as a tree that bears corks as fruits, ready to be picked and placed into bottles.
In the early 1930s, Lawson became interested in etching. One of the resulting prints was awarded the John Taylor Arms Prize by the Society of American Etchers.
Lawson died in 1957 at his home in Westport, Connecticut, in a house that he referred to as Rabbit Hill, since it had been the setting for his book of the same name. He was 64. He is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. An annual conference is held in his honor in Westport.
The Robert Lawson Papers are in the University of Minnesota Children's Literature Research Collections.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 30, 2023
The story of Captain Kidd's life and death told from the perspective of his cat, McDermot. The tale is rather a sad one with Kidd being betrayed by everyone he believed he could trust.
May 2, 2019
Poor Captain Kidd - he was set up. In this telling of the story by McDermot the cat, Kidd is a likable guffin who trusts all the wrong people and end up at Tyburn with a rope around his neck as a result. The good news in this sad story is that McDermot lives happily after. Lawson's pen and ink illustrations are marvelous. As a child I used to stare entranced at the color cover which showed McDermot's pierced ear with its ruby ring. Today I look instead at Moko and Koko, the African innkeepers, as they defend McDermot from an unscrupulous showman and I wince.
December 18, 2024
It took awhile to read, only because I was reading it to the boys as our night time book, and life got very busy.
I don’t know that the kids understood half of what was going on, but it was fun for me to learn more about Captain Kidd, at least from a cat’s perspective. We took a trip to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and discovered they have a small display of relics from a sunken ship believed to be Captain Kidd’s - I felt more knowledgeable having been reading this book.
I don’t know that the kids understood half of what was going on, but it was fun for me to learn more about Captain Kidd, at least from a cat’s perspective. We took a trip to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and discovered they have a small display of relics from a sunken ship believed to be Captain Kidd’s - I felt more knowledgeable having been reading this book.
May 4, 2017
This is a very entertaining read. I recommend it to the readers of all ages.
October 24, 2021
This is not as pleasant a read as Mr. Lawson's two other animal-perspective biographies but still remains quite a fun read-aloud story with the family. The vocabulary is expansive!
March 11, 2012
I found this book in middle school. Bought it from the school library for $.25. I've read it so many times and am still able to get lost in the adventure. If you love books such as Ben & Me, you'll adore this amazing book. It brings back so many childhood memories for me.
April 7, 2015
My parents bought this book for me when I was a kid, and I saved it to share with my own.
I do have to confess that this book has made me fantasize about piercing my cats' ears for the last 30years =P
I do have to confess that this book has made me fantasize about piercing my cats' ears for the last 30years =P
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews