The Paw

by Natalie Jane Prior, Terry Denton (Illustrator)

Leonie--little girl by day, cat-burglar by night--gives her loot to the needy and does good deeds while out on the prowl

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Prior was born in 1963 in Brisbane, Australia, where she also currently lives with her husband and daughter. Her first fiction book, 'The Amazing Adventures of Amabel', was published in 1990 and her internationally successful children's fantasy series, 'Lily Quench', has been published in more than twenty countries. Prior's work has been a finalist at the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards as well as being honoured and named as notable. Her work, 'Fireworks and Darkness', won the 2003 Davitt Awards for best young-adult novel and her work, 'Lily Quench and the Lighthouse of Skellig Mor' won the 2003 Aurealis Award for best children's short fiction. She has also been nominated for an Aurealis Award on three other occasions for best short fiction, long fiction and young-adult novel.

Reviews

[MJ . · Rating 5 out of 5]

By day, Leonie is a schoolgirl. At night she put on her cat costume and prowled the alleyways. Nothing was safe when Leonie was about.
So cute!!! I love the humour in this book. And I love the fact that the words sometime tell one story and the images tell another.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book with my pocket money many, many years ago...I loved the idea of a kid who was also an accomplished thief. Tonight, I dug out my old copy and read it to kiddo, who hung on to my every word. It's... a bit of a weird book, in hindsight. But still lots of fun.

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leonie is a schoolgirl during the day - but at night she becomes a cat-burglar.

Terry Denton may have read Where the Wild Things Are one too many times before creating the cat-suit for Leonie - the similarity is remarkable. (you can stop thinking about Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992's Batman Returns - Catwoman is a whole 'nother character.)

I love the little paw calling card Leonie leaves at each crime scene - a lovely illustrative touch.

A really fun book, reminiscent of the Robin Hood stories.