What do you think?
Rate this book
Catboy
Hunter
Hunter knows humans are dangerous to himself and the other cats of his colony. He avoids them, as all wild cats should. So when a neighborhood boy starts showing up in Hunter's junkyard to chase away dogs and bring the colony food, Hunter keeps his distance. But a new condo development puts the whole colony in danger, and Hunter soon realizes the only way to save his family is to put his trust in the boy.
The story of Catboy told through very different eyes.
The story of Catboy told through very different eyes.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
8 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Eric Walters
157 books909 followersEric was born in Toronto in 1957, which makes him "real old". But, as Eric says, "Just because I have to grow old doesn't mean that I have to grow up!" In his many roles as parent, teacher, social worker, youth sports coach and writer he is in constant contact with children and young adults. He draws from these experiences and feels that this helps him to capture the realistic interaction between young people—the conflicts, tensions, stresses and interests that make up their lives.
Eric began his writing as a teacher. He taught in classes from kindergarten up and his stories often reflect the curriculum that he was teaching. He always read stories—picture books and novels—to his students and this helped him to understand what children liked, responded to, and were inspired by. He enjoys the enthusiasm of his students and often looks at them to provide him with the inspiration to pursue a particular topic in both the classroom and in his writing.
Eric tries to write every day. When he has a story idea he starts with research. This could involve reading books, watching a documentary, or trying to experience the things that his characters are going to go through. This could include rock climbing or riding white water (for Stars), spending time in a wheelchair (Rebound), playing and walking with tigers (Tiger by the Tail), hanging around a tough biker bar (Diamonds in the Rough), standing out in his backyard in a blizzard wearing a T-shirt and shorts (Trapped in Ice), or traveling to Africa (Alexandria of Africa).
"The most important thing anybody ever told me about writing was to write what you know . . . and the only way to get to know things is to do your homework and research before you write," Eric stated.
Once the writing begins the story is always playing around in his head. He takes any opportunity, even if it's just a few minutes between presentations, to put things down, either with pen and paper or on his laptop.
Prior to entering teaching and writing Eric was a social worker (B.S.W., M.S.W., B.A.Hons—specialized major psychology). He worked in a variety of settings including child welfare, private practice, a mental health centre, and, for twenty years on a part-time basis as a Crisis Social Worker in an emergency department. He stopped teaching 4 years ago and left the ER only last year.
The majority of Eric's time is spent in the company of his wife, children and dogs (Lola a big standard poodle and a little white dog named Winnie the Poodle).
Eric began his writing as a teacher. He taught in classes from kindergarten up and his stories often reflect the curriculum that he was teaching. He always read stories—picture books and novels—to his students and this helped him to understand what children liked, responded to, and were inspired by. He enjoys the enthusiasm of his students and often looks at them to provide him with the inspiration to pursue a particular topic in both the classroom and in his writing.
Eric tries to write every day. When he has a story idea he starts with research. This could involve reading books, watching a documentary, or trying to experience the things that his characters are going to go through. This could include rock climbing or riding white water (for Stars), spending time in a wheelchair (Rebound), playing and walking with tigers (Tiger by the Tail), hanging around a tough biker bar (Diamonds in the Rough), standing out in his backyard in a blizzard wearing a T-shirt and shorts (Trapped in Ice), or traveling to Africa (Alexandria of Africa).
"The most important thing anybody ever told me about writing was to write what you know . . . and the only way to get to know things is to do your homework and research before you write," Eric stated.
Once the writing begins the story is always playing around in his head. He takes any opportunity, even if it's just a few minutes between presentations, to put things down, either with pen and paper or on his laptop.
Prior to entering teaching and writing Eric was a social worker (B.S.W., M.S.W., B.A.Hons—specialized major psychology). He worked in a variety of settings including child welfare, private practice, a mental health centre, and, for twenty years on a part-time basis as a Crisis Social Worker in an emergency department. He stopped teaching 4 years ago and left the ER only last year.
The majority of Eric's time is spent in the company of his wife, children and dogs (Lola a big standard poodle and a little white dog named Winnie the Poodle).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 19, 2020
It’s a simple story, really, but a pleasant one. It is told from the view of Hunter, a feral cat living in a colony. Hunter is the best hunter in the colony, and he has to be, to take care of his ex-housecat mate and their kittens. The other cats in the colony respect Hunter, believing he will be their future ‘King’. They do think it’s weird and uncatlike to take care of one’s mate and kittens as closely as Hunter does, but he doesn’t mind being different.
Hunter is distrustful of humans and wary about everything. Being this way keeps him and his family safe. But one day, a boy begins coming to the colony and feeding the cats. Hunter is suspicious but doesn’t speak up about it. “Cats are too independent to follow orders or work as a group.” It’s everyone for themselves essentially. But this mindset begins to change when the colony is put at risk.
There is a beautiful friendship between Hunter and a raccoon. The raccoon is probably my favourite character and this friendship earned a star of its own. The raccoon teaches Hunter that we have a lot to learn from each other, humans and animals alike. He helps Hunter open up to more opportunities and open up to the possibility that there are good and caring humans in this world. Something that I think we all need to be reminded of.
I’ve read a lot of Eric Walter’s books. They are in every library and school around me so they’re easy to get a hold of. I know his writing well and this didn’t quite feel like his. I looked into it and apparently he worked with students in the Toronto District School Board to write and edit this book. This explains why it felt a little off. It still works though.
It reminded me of Erin Hunter’s Warriors series, but I didn’t mind that much. It’s an easy, relaxing read that doesn’t take too long. I’m sure kids will love it, especially if they already love cats! There is another book, Catboy ,that seems to be this story but told from the boy’s perspective. I’m sure this would clear up any unanswered questions about what happens in this story.
“It’s very hard to kill something you’ve spoken to. It’s hard to hate something after you see how connected we all are,’ the raccoon said.
‘We kill to live.’ Hunter said.
‘That is part of being a cat. That is part of your essence. That cannot he changed, but you could learn so much from other animals. The faithfulness of geese, the loyalty of dogs, the organization of humans, the cleverness of raccoons... One day you’ll be a different sort of king. But until then, keep learning. There is much to learn.” - The raccoon (Pg. 82-83)
Hunter is distrustful of humans and wary about everything. Being this way keeps him and his family safe. But one day, a boy begins coming to the colony and feeding the cats. Hunter is suspicious but doesn’t speak up about it. “Cats are too independent to follow orders or work as a group.” It’s everyone for themselves essentially. But this mindset begins to change when the colony is put at risk.
There is a beautiful friendship between Hunter and a raccoon. The raccoon is probably my favourite character and this friendship earned a star of its own. The raccoon teaches Hunter that we have a lot to learn from each other, humans and animals alike. He helps Hunter open up to more opportunities and open up to the possibility that there are good and caring humans in this world. Something that I think we all need to be reminded of.
I’ve read a lot of Eric Walter’s books. They are in every library and school around me so they’re easy to get a hold of. I know his writing well and this didn’t quite feel like his. I looked into it and apparently he worked with students in the Toronto District School Board to write and edit this book. This explains why it felt a little off. It still works though.
It reminded me of Erin Hunter’s Warriors series, but I didn’t mind that much. It’s an easy, relaxing read that doesn’t take too long. I’m sure kids will love it, especially if they already love cats! There is another book, Catboy ,that seems to be this story but told from the boy’s perspective. I’m sure this would clear up any unanswered questions about what happens in this story.
“It’s very hard to kill something you’ve spoken to. It’s hard to hate something after you see how connected we all are,’ the raccoon said.
‘We kill to live.’ Hunter said.
‘That is part of being a cat. That is part of your essence. That cannot he changed, but you could learn so much from other animals. The faithfulness of geese, the loyalty of dogs, the organization of humans, the cleverness of raccoons... One day you’ll be a different sort of king. But until then, keep learning. There is much to learn.” - The raccoon (Pg. 82-83)
January 29, 2025
A talking animals story. The writing and story felt very immature, which I couldn't blame it for since it's meant for young readers, but also oddly also mentioned political stuff:
Humans liked democracy. Dogs favored dictators. They liked someone to tell them what to do. And rats were fascists, brutal and uncaring about each other. Cats were anarchists
I could have stuck with the simple story, cats knowing too much, and the weird political stuff, until I got to this line:
Spare the paw, spoil the kitten.
Such lazy writing, so I DNFed there (about 25% into the book).
Humans liked democracy. Dogs favored dictators. They liked someone to tell them what to do. And rats were fascists, brutal and uncaring about each other. Cats were anarchists
I could have stuck with the simple story, cats knowing too much, and the weird political stuff, until I got to this line:
Spare the paw, spoil the kitten.
Such lazy writing, so I DNFed there (about 25% into the book).
February 26, 2019
Good quick read. Perfect book for young reads or those looking for a light-hearted story. Told from the cats points of view it is definitely a fun book to read.
January 23, 2022
It was an okay book but I might reread it again to see if my opinion changes.
December 4, 2012
Hunter is part of a feral cat colony living in a nameless city in a junkyard. Written in a third-person, or cat, narrative the story is told from Hunter’s point of view depicting the plight of homeless cats. He has sired a litter with Mittens, an abandoned house cat that has been declawed, and he acts uncharacteristically for a cat in that he is involved with their upbringing. Hunter does not understand human language, nor does he trust them because they have harmed the colony in the past. When a human boy and his mother show up with food, he is understandably wary. Mittens tries to convince him that some humans can be trusted and when he is badly injured he has no choice but to trust when they trap him. Cat or animal lovers will enjoy the anthropomorphism of the cats and an old raccoon, the group dynamics, and the description of the grim existence of alley cats. The collaboration between Walters and students in the Toronto School District explains some of the unevenness in the story but students may enjoy that backstory.
October 1, 2012
I very strongly dislike this book!! I love cats, and when my teacher signed our class up to edit it along with other TDSB students, I thought, hey, this'll be fun! But it WASN'T! The book wasn't well-written in the first place! We gave many good suggestions to Mr. Walters, and he didn't listen to most of them! He was rude to us and boring at the book launch. I think it's a decent book idea, but it was VERY poorly executed. Sorry, Eric Walters, but I do not like this book and I won't be reading your other stuff!
June 17, 2015
I read this book aloud to my 10- and 7-year-olds. They both enjoyed the book. However, some of the chapters were so repetitive that they thought I was mistakenly re-reading chapters I had already read. When we looked back, we saw that many of the same events and descriptions just happened more times than was necessary. Probably the book could have been shorter and still contained all of the necessary plot points. My son was also disappointed because the description on the back gave away information that didn't occur until more than half way into the book.
January 9, 2014
While there is never any doubt as to how the plot will resolve itself, this book was still a decent read-out-loud bedtime book. My sons (8 and 10) got really into it at times. When we got to the end we noticed a teaser for Catboy, which seems to be the same events told from a different perspective. We'll probably pick that one up next.
August 20, 2012
Great read. Will use as a discussion with groups reading Catboy and Hunter
January 30, 2013
Sequel to Catboy, told from the cat's point of view. Slightly better than the first one, which wasn't great
November 29, 2013
GREAT book i loved it.
July 11, 2016
A good book but based like its a warrior book from a rogues point of view
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews