Ginger the Stray Kitten

Animal Stories #14

by Holly Webb

Rosie loves going home with Gran after school; Gran lives near a farm and Rosie can visit the feral cats that lives there. Her favourite is a tiny kitten who she calls Ginger, because of his lovely orange fur.At first Ginger is very shy, but gradually he starts to trust Rosie. But when the farm is sold to developers and the builders start work, the little kitten is terrified - all the other cats have disappeared and he's all alone. Suddenly the world is a scary place...

Genres: Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Cats, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Picture Books

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Holly Webb is one of Britain's best-loved children's writers. She has written over a hundred books for children, and her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Holly lives in Tilehurst, just outside of Reading, Berkshire, with her husband, three children and several cats.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story that pulls at your heartstrings as you feel for Ginger the kitten and how scared he must be. He cautiously finds a new friend in Rosie and she does her best to build trust even when obstacles stand in her way. I liked Rosie's determination and persistence and the connection she feels with Ginger due to their similar hair color. It's easy to see how the story will end, but I felt it was a little too perfect when Ginger readily follows Rosie home without the least hesitation. The ending absolutely fits yet I still found it a bit hard to fully believe.

A cute read for compassionate animal lovers, especially for those feeling most for the littlest, most helpless ones.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars
This book was sad and also had really good happy ending. I guess it was sad to me because I am a animal lover and I don't want to see or heard bad things that happen to the animal. In this book Ginger is a stray kitten and she is lost in the middle of no where and a sweet and kind and caring family comes and rescues her. I love to hear or see things like that because it means that someone did something great for an animal or someone. I always love reading Holly Webb's books because they are so touching.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very suspenseful story, especially for our girls. They were on pins and needles the whole time I read it (and we read the book straight through in one storytime), sure that disaster would strike at any moment. They empathized with Rosie's emotions as she searched in vain for the little kitten and grew to love him too. The ending was somewhat anti-climactic, though, as if the author was done teasing the reader and just tossed the treat out to end the play session. We would read more books by this author - this one was definitely a hit with our little animal lovers.

[Nata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Îmi plac mult cărțile pentru copii la care autorii chiar țin cont de vârsta cititorilor mici. Textul este chiar pe înțelesul copiilor de 6-7 ani, la fel și acțiunile din carte. Băiatului meu i-a plăcut mult de Roșcovană.

[Dorian Jandreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rouzė dažnai su močiute lankosi pas ūkininkę, kuri turi daug kačių, tačiau vieną dieną jas pasiekia nelemta žinia kad ūkį pardavė ir jo vietoje vyks statybos. Nors visas kates išgaudė gyvūnų prieglauda, Murkius liko statybų aikštelėje. Taip prasideda jo išlaisvinimo operacija kainavusi daug kantrybės...

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute little story ! I took about an hour and a half to read!

[lucja · Rating 3 out of 5]

oczywiście nostalgia i w ogole, ale troche mnie irytowało ze najpierw kot nie widzial jej, potem ona nie widziala kota itd... ksiazka jako rozluznienie od dluzszych ksiazek i jako ksiazka dla dzieci super

[Ugnė Lukošienė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Labai patikusi mums!

[Xyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally cried my way through this book! The story is very well written and very real. Holly Webb can certainly evoke emotions with her writing. At the beginning of the book is a list of her other works and short descriptions of each in the back. All deal with an animal that is lost or stolen or lonely - I'd cry through those too. which means I probably won't read them. I just can't handle that. Humans are so crappy to animals to begin with...but I'm really getting off point.

The writing is very well done. The characters are well rounded - not too many nor too few. Rosie, the main character, is determined in rescuing Ginger. Ginger is a tiny, 5-week old tom who loses everything when the woman who owns the farm he lives on moves and the land becomes a construction site.

When I saw this title I had no idea the story would be very close to my own experience in rescuing out ginger tom. He was a scared little guy in a drain pipe who had to be lured out with ham sandwich. He was starving and scared and hurt; now he's a big lovable guy safe an happy in his home.

The main emotions felt by the main characters, Rosie and Ginger, are frustration, fear, sadness, helplessness, and then joy. Yes, the tears end up as happy ones. (That's not always the case for farm cats that lose their home.) Be ready for the reader to feel the same.

[Destiny L]

Ginger the Stray Kitten is a cute and sad book and I love it im almost 11 and I still love it when I read it when I was a little kid about 4 years ago!!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

My four year old said she would give it seven stars so I guess I'll go with a solid five!

[Akacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character was really nice and sweet, and the stray kittens perspective was quite interesting, so it was a fun read.

[Ani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ez aranyos. Nem mentem a falnak tőle, de balzsam a léleknek, mert az első pillanattól az utolsóig érződik a kislányon, hogy felelősségteljes, szerető és türelmes gazdija lesz a cicónak.

[Betül · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5’tan 4. Merak edilecek bir kitap, ama ben az merak ettim.

[Alana Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved it like so much , the cat in the story looked like my cat but i like dogs better that why i have to dog anyway i like the story ;)

[julkor · Rating 5 out of 5]

mega

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Дитині сподобалась ця історія )))

[Saylor Alberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response:
To the my Freshman year, I chose a very easy book to read. Even though it was a very easy read, I really enjoyed reading an under level book. It was fun to be able to pick up the book and be done with only 30minutes to an hour later. I thought this book was very enjoyable to read and was a good relaxation time. For the book being made for younger kids it was well written, and I loved the happy ending.

Plot Summary:
Rosie, a little girl who has always been found of kittens loves walking home with Gran after school. Gran allows her to stop by the old barn and feed a little of stray kittens that remain there starving. If only Rosie can get the little orange one closer to her and earn her trust. This kitten is Rosie's favorite, that she names Ginger. One day though, while Rosie is walking to the barn after school, the barn has been turned into a construction zone! Rosie worries for the kittens lives and asks the workers frantically if they have seen any kittens. But she was turned down. Then she goes back one day sees Ginger from inside the fence. So they ask the worker if they can enter but he walks away grumpily. Meanwhile Ginger then sees Rosie walking away, and cry's out to her but does not here her and goes home. Then one day, Rosie goes back and digs a hole under the fence and Ginger slides through. So Rosie takes Ginger home and loves her so much.

Audience Recommendations:
I would recommend this book for anyone the ages 7-10 or older if they want to read something easy. Little girls would probably enjoy this book more then boys would because they are more of a girly read. But if a boy would like to read it they can by all means. This book would be good for someone who enjoys realistic fiction, animals, and happy endings. Overall your kids will probably really enjoy it.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a really cute book. I have a lot of these books and they're all really cute, but this one is one of the cutest. The book was about a girl who always played with the stray kittens at her Grandma's Friend's barn, but the barn was sold and torn down so the people who bought the barn could put more houses. All of the kittens but one were all taken to the shelter and so Ginger ( the cat that was left behind ) was stuck. The little girl finally gets to the kitten after multiple tries, and the girl takes the cat home.

[Joud Algorain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it is one of my favorites.
The best part is when a girl always comes to the farm with her grandmother to meet a ginger kitten and her siblings, The girl's friend is her neighbor and she too had a kitten and it was one of the siblings of the ginger kitten, the girl always had some sandwiches with her every time she went to the farm so she could feed all the kittens including the ginger kitten.

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

[This review is written by a first grader, Y.C., as part of a classroom project on opinion writing.]

Do you like cats? If you do, you should read Ginger the Stray Kitten by Holly Webb. I like that the girl likes kittens too. For example, in the story the girl wants to take the kitten home. Maybe next time, the author could add some boy characters. Overall, this book is amazing!

[Subashini Surendran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosie loves visiting the farm cats that live in the farm next to grandma's house. Her favourite kitten is a ginger one. At first, ginger is very shy, but she starts building her courage. Then the farm is sold and all the kittens are transfered to a rescue shelter. Except the ginger one, can Rosie save the kitten?

[John Naylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute and perilous animal story from Holly Webb. Different to most of them and although the ending is never really in doubt it builds up tension for it well.
I cried. Holly's writing nearly always has that effect on me.

[Ainsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a scary(for the kitten at least) event.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun to read this with my 3 year old. He loves kittens and we had such a good time reading it together. Great story!

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute story that keeps you hoping for a good outcome.

[Summer Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another adorable kitten story from this author. Ginger stole my heart.

[Neringa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another sad story in Holly Webb’s books.

[Marlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to my daughter who loves cats. It was cute and captivating and quick to read. However, some of it didn’t make sense to us. Why wouldn’t her grandmother go and ask the workers to get the cat while it was sitting with her granddaughter? They didn’t believe her the other times she asked about a cat, but if she’d gotten them while the cat was there they would have had to believe her. Instead she stands across the street until the car runs away? That seemed really stupid to me; my daughter questioned it too.

[Mahek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this for the first time. It was good. My first time getting into reading ❤