The Killer Cat's Christmas

The Killer Cat #5

by Anne Fine

The Killer Cat is back for Christmas! A much-loved classic by Anne Fine. So go on, ask me. 'Dear, dear Tuffy. Why was your Christmas so horrible?' Well. I couldn't climb the tree. I couldn't touch the dangly decorations. And Ellie made me part of her sing-along Christmas performance. Horrible, horrible, horrible! But I showed them. I was Tuffy the Acting Cat, superstar. How was I supposed to know things would get so . . . messy? Anne Fine has written numerous highly acclaimed and prize-winning books for children and adults. The Tulip Touch won the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award; Goggle-Eyes won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal; Flour Babies won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year; and Bill's New Frock won a Smarties Prize. Anne Fine was named Children's Laureate in 2001 and was awarded an OBE in 2003.

Genres: Christmas, Animals, Childrens, Cats

96 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.

Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.

Reviews

[p33€3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

same t comprenc la meva familia es igual amb mi amore

[Lorine · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ADORE tous les bouquins de cette collection !! Vraiment aller TOUS lire au moins 1 chat assassin, c'est pour tout âge, enfant, ado, adulte...
L'humour est fin et on rit littéralement
Le chat est un sacré personnage

Je recommande cette collection à 100%

Petit conseil : lisez-le à voix haute pour plus d'effet ;)

[Scotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Fine's The Killer Cat's Christmas is an amusing and well written story for pupils at a KS2 level, probably from 7 to 11 years of age. The book begins with the main character Tuffy the cat, locked in the garage, soliloquising to explain why he was put there by his family. The rest of the book is Tuffy retelling the story about how he got into more and more trouble with the father of the family, despite the daughter Ellie doing her best to protect the cat. The climax arrives when Tuffy steps in icing and accidentally treads it all over the carpet. As the father becomes increasingly irate, Tuffy attempts to hide at the top of the Christmas tree but the weight is too much and the tree topples over and makes a terrible mess.

Tuffy is represented as a stereotypical cat: selfish, lazy and malevolent, but with a redemptive sense of humour which forces the reader to have a certain sympathy with the cat despite his obvious wrong doing. The book is gender neutral, which can be quite rare and obviously beneficial in a class setting and is also quite short with manageable chapter sizes and regular illustrations, all of which help to make this book more accessible to a wide range of pupils. The language is not particularly challenging for an upper KS2 pupil, however, it is an enjoyable read and could be effective independent reading for any pupil in the KS2 bracket.

[osoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Таффи все так же умилителен и валит наповал своей котоубийственной харизмой. На этот раз дело происходит в самое Рождество, когда дом полон народу и бедняге опять приходится прятаться в укромных уголках, а при поимке бандой детей участвовать в разнообразных театральных постановках. Котище бьет рекорд по сбиванию елочных шаров, неожиданно открывает в себе тонну актерского таланта и следует завету «хочешь стать звездой – сядь на елку» ;)

Апрель явно не пошел мне на пользу, ибо вместо того, чтобы наслаждаться кошачьими похождениями, я всю дорогу размышляла о том, что все Таффины прегрешения уже влетели хозяевам в копеечку, и таких терпеливых людей тяжело сыскать. Преданность и любовь Элли вполне понятны, но и глава семейства прав, только способы у него варварские (выгнать вместо перевоспитать). В общем, голову заполонили мысли, абсолютно не соответствующие юморному настрою книги. Апрель, сгинь. Хочу снова бездумно наслаждаться Таффиными проделками, а не гадать во что встанет новый ковер.

annikeh.net

[Lenore Kuipers-Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd "Killer Cat's" book I have read, and just like the last one, it is hilarious. It is so much fun to read because you hear what the cat is really thinking about the human.
Tuffy, the cat, is the main character, and he belongs to Hollie. He calls Hollie's dad "Mr. Grumpy".

"So go on, ask me. 'Dear, dear Tuffy, why was your Christmas so horrible?' And I'll explain: because it is a festival that wasn't made for cats. Just think about it. There's a tree we're not allowed to climb.
And there are tempting dangly decorations we're not allowed to touch."

These are several reasons Tuffy does not like Christmas. Another one is the guests that arrive. That would be Ellie's Aunt Ann, her husband, Brian, and the twins, Ellie's cousins, Lucilla and Lancelot. She is so happy when they come for the holidays, and they love Tuffy, but he doesn't like them at all.

Many things go haywire for Tuffy this Christmas. You'll laugh when you read about them.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

At some point every series seems to have a Christmas story entry and the Killer cat is no different. More outrageous antics from the title character in what is book five of the series - although the third one I have read. Another fine story from Fine!

[Mark Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat. Xmas tree.. and some songs. Funny short based around Xmas and tuffy. The next instalment in the series picks up at Xmas time. Quick and silly. Just 3 out of 5 this time. Hopefully the last book excels…

[Shahrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas goes down in Tuffy house, in his one hilarious unique cat style. Love the illustrations.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tuffy just wants to enjoy Christmas his way, leading to some super funny antics from him.

[Maryam Pompeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto carino ♥️

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable story which everybody will enjoy

[Melainebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tuffy et ses facéties, qui n'en sont pas toujours, sont de retour. Il lui arrive encore bien des "malheurs". Mais qu'a-t-il pu bien faire pour être enfermé, en disgrâce totale, dans le garage pendant les fêtes de Noël ?

[Zaza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suite des aventures de ce chat à la mauvaise foi toujours aussi légendaire ... La machine tourne un peu à vide ceci dit, l'effet de surprise et de fraîcheur des 1ers opus n'étant plus là. Ceci dit, ce court roman reste amusant.

[Bladelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un bon moment de poilade avec mon grand matelot ! Toujours aussi irrésistible ce chat !

[Georgina Ribas · Rating 5 out of 5]

super guaaai