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GREAT GRAVITY THE CAT by Johanna Johnston

GREAT GRAVITY THE CAT

By

Pub Date: March 17th, 1958
Publisher: Knopf

Perhaps we are reading into this story a symbolism that is not intended, but it seems to this reader that this is the perfect story to give to a child who is suffering from a sense of displacement after the birth of a new baby. Possibly this is almost too artfully told to carry the message, but it is in its own right an appealing, original tale. The feline felicity of the cat, Great Gravity, is shattered when his owners have a baby. There were diapers in the corners of the New York apartment that he had considered his own. There were no more chicken livers cooked to order. So in a huff, he went to Central Park to scramble for existence. His first hunting expedition marooned him in a treetop, and when his owner came to the rescue, Great Gravity decided to give him another try. Perhaps he and the baby could together run the parents.... There's a subtlety and sophistication that youngsters may miss, but third graders could read it to themselves, and adults and children will enjoy reading it together. Side sewn and reinforced.