Carbonel and Calidor: Being the Further Adventures of a Royal Cat

Carbonel #3

by Barbara Sleigh

Mystery starring cats.

Genres: Fantasy, Cats, Childrens, Animals, Magic, Fiction, British Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Barbara Grace de Riemer Sleigh (1906-1982) was an English children's writer and broadcaster. She worked for the BBC Children's Hour and is the author of Carbonel and two sequels: The Kingdom of Carbonel and Carbonel and Calidor.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The third and by some distance, the weakest of the trilogy. The sparkle of the John and Rosemary relationship has gone; in fact neither child has the charm of their previous appearances. The story is quite well structured which it should be as it is basically taken from Henry IV part one. But there are huge problems. The loveable rogue witch of the first two books is sidelined and we have the not quite fully thought out (in more ways than one) Miss Dibdin, and the based on the Snow Queen in Narnia Mrs Witherspoon. The cats, when they appear at all, fail to engage. The west country wench with the good heart and some common sense is also blindly long suffering. Her name, 'Dumpsie' says about all you need to know. Calidor is someone who deserves to lose his lot and the Prince Hal cat helps to move the plot along.
The magic is far from that. The magic had left Barbara Sleigh and this is a disappointing end to an otherwise fine series. The less said about the cat's eyes the better.

[Capn]

Carbonel, King of the Fallowhithe cats, needs help to find his runaway son, Prince Calidor, and rescue him from the snares of the wicked Broomhurst witches. With special magic, Rosemary and John become Hearing Humans and come to his aid.
By the author of Carbonel
and The Kingdom of Carbonel

Cover and illustrations by Charles Front

ISBN 0140311874, Puffin, 1980, 214 pages (cover differs from that shown on 17/04/2024 - has two black cats, two children in foreground, girl (probably Rosemary) facing out and indicating red-spired castle in background. Will upload if not corrected automatically).

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟 A really satisfying ending to the Carbonel trilogy. Although it wasn’t quite as good as the other two, it was still fun to read and had a great ending. I’m still so sad that I didn’t know about these books growing up because I would have loved them even more. I’ll miss reading about Rosie and John’s adventures. Carbonel reminds me so much of my first cat, Mr. Bigglesworth Black. I highly recommended this series to children and those young at heart.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming and just as lovely as the two other books in the series. Brings back childhood memories even though I read it for the first time now.
The author must have really loved cats.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently I skipped book 2 and jumped right to bok 3 by mistake. I couldn't tell.

Book 1 was better, but this was good enough, and will work well for an adult reading aloud to children ages 4 to 7, probably.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love all 3 of these books and they’re just as good as when I read them as a child. I’m even surprised I haven’t seen these adapted to tv as I think the stories are so good. The sass on Carbonel - just a typical cat!!

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So often sequels just are not quite as true as the first, but in this case wowza

[Alex Ankarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg, so joyful and life-enhancing!!!

[Beth Cato · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Carbonel trilogy; I read the first two as a youngster, but my library didn't have the third book. This is my first time reading it.[return][return]As Rosemary and John reunite to spend a third summer together, the King of Cats, Carbonel shows up. As usual, he wants something from his faithful human friends. The children find a magic ring that enable them to hear Carbonel, and he tells them his tale of woe: his son and heir, Calidor, has abandoned the royal family and become a witch's minion. When witches are about, dark magic is sure to follow, especially when the evil cat-queen Grisania from a nearby town plots Carbonel's demise. It's Rosemary and John to the rescue, along with hopping brooms, walking road reflectors, and a whole mess of cats.[return][return]I didn't like this book as much, and not just because of the missing nostalgia factor. In a lot of ways, it didn't make sense. For one, John and Rosemary forget about Carbonel throughout the rest of the year; presumably, magic makes them forget, but it's incredibly sad for them to have these amazing adventures and remember almost nothing. I mean, they wouldn't remember why they were friends, or how Rosemary met her stepfather, and all sorts of other life-changing events. Also, the second book ended with them messing a bit with the space-time continuum... As a kid, I didn't mind that, even though it would mean Carbonel never met them. But in the third book, the issue makes even less sense, and then the book uses the exact same sort of ending![return][return]Maybe this book is disjointed because of the time span involved. The first book came out in 1955, the second in 1960, and this one in 1978 (John even wears bellbottoms on the cover). Each book in the series could stand completely on its own since all the characters forget everything that happened before (which seems like a total cop-out to me, like saying it was all a dream). Maybe the author forgot or didn't have a copy of the other books handy? I think I would have been very disappointed as a kid, so I'm kind of glad I found this as an adult and have a bit more perspective. ... But I'm still really disappointed.

[Mumbler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I thought this one was great! For one thing, it is full of great cat characters with great names. Often two names, common and high. Dumpsie and Wellingtonia!

[Friend of Pixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were sad to say goodbye to Carbonel and his gang of royal and not-so-royal cats. Logan plans to have an all-black cat some day so that he can name it Carbonel. His other favorite cat characters were Dumpsie (a she-cat raised in the town dump and favored by Prince Calidor) and Woppit, Calidor's and Pergamond's "nanny" cat. Logan didn't think he'd use those names though! Sleigh is a good storyteller and I liked that the kids got older and changed during the series of three books. In this last book, I did end up editing out some of the pre-teen snarkiness in this one, skipping over the "don't be stupid" kind of comments, which was easy to do. I imagine L will re-read these stories later.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in this delightful series is in some ways the best. It's showdown time among the cats, and the humans are not far behind, ramping up their amateur witchery and doing their wicked best to frustrate our two child heroes. There's even time travel. Not to mention a threat to the comfort and safety of one of the children's Parent. A wonderful conclusion to a great trilogy. Highly recommended for reading aloud to your favorite 10 year old.

[J.D. Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't love this quite as much as I did when i was twelve. Still, the king and prince of cats are pretty awesome...
I'm on an animal stories jag at the moment. And the father/son thing seems to be a big deal in all of them.
the idea of a secret world of cats on the roofs is still pwoerful, as well. it's the human side that's less effective...

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction of new characters, the new villain witch and her toad among others, kept the antics of Rosemary and John fresh and interesting -- possibly more enjoyable than the second book in the trilogy. The idea of having Rosemary turn into a witch herself (albeit a good one, which is not suggested as possible in the book) could have been an interesting spin-off for a subsequent series.

[Bethnoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started a bit more slowly than the previous 2, but once it got going a fun, occasionally hilarious and at times touching book for children and lovers of cats, magic and English childrens fiction in general.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really glad that I got a chance to re-read a childhood favorite. Of course I didn't find the series as magical as when I was 10 years old, but still felt it was well written and an enjoyable way to pass the time. I hope today's young people discover these books as a worthwhile read.

[Callista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, it has been a very long time since I read this book. This book was just like the other two in the series, it was beautiful and cheesy. I had fun re-living this book, and the story of Carbonel.

[Jdandthree · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first two, in that there were less interesting characters, but just as much good action and plotting. Still, a good, fun read, and a nice way to end this trilogy.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third (and last) in a thoroughly excellent series.

[Minerva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! Classic English children's lit.

[Tiina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sure, this is a children's book and I am an adult, but there was something magical about this book, in more ways than one. !!! Star rating!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 8 and 4 year olds love the Carbonel series. Just the right amount of action, adventure, and silliness. We will be reading more Barbara Sleigh books.