Curious Cats and Fantastical Felines: The Cat in Folklore, Myth, and Legend

by Willow Winsham

Genres: Cats, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2026

About the author

Willow Winsham brings readers regular tales of witches and witchcraft at her blog, The Witch, the Weird and the Wonderful. Combining a passion for research and history with a love of storytelling, she dedicates her time to investigating some of the most intriguing stories from the history of the British Isles.

Reviews

[Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, easy-to-read book that describes worldwide superstitions, sayings, fairy tales, mythology and folk tales related to cats. For example, tales about why the Manx Cat has no tail and origins of sayings such as “it’s raining cats and dogs”. The facts are interesting and are accompanied by many gorgeous illustrations. However, the descriptions are brief and simple, and don’t really provide any deep analysis. I also didn’t love how the book was organised. It felt a little fragmented and incohesive with regard to topics. But overall, this is a fun, quick read for cat lovers.

[Alex T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun non-fic about cats in folklore, myths and legends. Not the most in-depth book I ever read on the topic, but it does touch on a lot of topics. Educative and mostly light-hearted, recommended for any cat lover.