The Witness

by Robert Westall, Sophy Williams (Illustrator)

On a bitter winter night in the land of Jordan, a beautiful golden cat tries to hide from the wind. Lost and alone, she is desperate to find a safe place to give birth to her kittens. At last she finds a stable and takes shelter inside - with a man and his gentle wife, who, like the cat, is about to give birth. The cat is witness to the arrival of the Christ child and forms a unique bond with the Holy Family.

Genres: Christmas, Cats, Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Robert Westall was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England in 1929.

His first published book The Machine Gunners (1975) which won him the Carnegie Medal is set in World War Two when a group of children living on Tyneside retrieve a machine-gun from a crashed German aircraft. He won the Carnegie Medal again in 1981 for The Scarecrows, the first writer to win it twice. He won the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Blitzcat and the Guardian Award in 1990 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Robert Westall's books have been published in 21 different countries and in 18 different languages, including Braille.

From: http://www.robertwestall.com/

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I have my own place, and am looking to start a family in a few years, I want to begin a collection of Christmas picture books. (Besides, I absolutely love Christmas picture books!) I decided on this book to begin the collection as it has both a very traditional "Christmas story" element and also the added bonus of a cat and her kittens featured throughout! It's a very sweet story about a cat-goddess exiled from Egypt--she is "heavy with kittens" and finds a manger to give birth. Of course, who might also be in that manger...!? While the story is good, my favorite part of the book is the pictures. The artist truly captures the essence of a cat--especially this one's regal stature as one who knows it has been worshipped as a goddess! And the kittens are adorable! Anyway, it's a great first book for our collection--Tyler liked it, too, and Pandy (his kitty) came by and rubbed the corners when we opened, so I suppose it gets kitty approval, too!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

English children's author Robert Westall, who was twice awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal - he won in 1975 for The Machine-Gunners , and in 1981 for The Scarecrows - turns his attention to the story of the Nativity in this lovely Christmas picture-book. Following the adventures of a displaced Egyptian feline, heavily pregnant and looking for shelter one cold night in Bethlehem, it presents the birth of Jesus as seen by a cat. Although distrusted by Joseph, whose superstitions about cats make him hostile, the feline finds an advocate in gentle Mary, who makes her welcome, provides her with a safe place to give birth to her kittens, and lets her watch over the "human kitten." After observing the many visitors, from shepherds to kings, who come to visit this extraordinary child, the cat finds herself journeying, together with her offspring, and with this human family, back to her home in Egypt...

Recommended to me as a superior "Nativity from a Cat's Perspective" story, after I read and reviewed Michael Foreman's Cat in the Manger , this lovely tale makes the reader feel that she is right there, feeling the cold wind and the cat's desperation, seeing (and smelling!) the beautiful angels who appear at Christ's birth, and sensing the extraordinary atmosphere around this unique child. I appreciated the humor in Westall's telling - the amusement of the angels, at the fact that the animals can see them, but Joseph can't; the working class accent used for the shepherds - and found the artwork by Sophy Williams to be just lovely. I did wonder a bit at the description of the land as "Jordan" - Bethlehem was part of the ancient Kingdom of Judea/Judah, a part of the world sometimes referred to as Palestine (depending upon the era), but never as Jordan - but leaving that odd naming choice aside, The Witness is an outstanding Christmas tale, one I would recommend to anyone looking for Nativity stories, particularly from an animal's perspective.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and imaginative story of a cat stolen from Egypt (where she had been worshipped) and sold as a rat-killer in Bethlehem. Speculates about why Joseph didn't stay with family (father's cousin's house is already filled with strangers who have more money). Joseph thinks it's a demon, but Mary allows the cat to stay. Rich men (magi) view the cat as an Egyptian god come to worship the Child. The angel that visits Joseph is the Angel of Death, who tells Joseph to return the cat to Egypt.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book my 2nd grade daughter & I read together. While We thought it was a unique take on the Christmas Story. We didn’t like how Joseph was depicted. Therefore not a favorite of ours.