A chance visit from a stray cat inspires a first children’s book

When the stray cat emerged from the wilderness to spy on Oregon author Vicki Spandel, his appearance captured her imagination. “Wondering where he’d come from got me thinking,” she explains. “What if a cat left home on a whim and found himself in a world for which he was totally unprepared? What a great story that would make.” The result is No Ordinary Cat,the beautifully illustrated tale of Rufus, an adventurous cat whose destiny isn’t just to explore, but also to touch the hearts of others. (“Jeni Kelleher is an artistic genius,” Spandel says of the illustrator.)

The book, which Kirkus Reviews praises as a “feline-centric yet deeply human and adult-friendly novel for children,” isn’t Spandel’s first book. The author previously penned The 9 Rights of Every Writer and Creating Writers and has published more than 40 books on writing and writing instruction. As a former classroom teacher and a scoring director for writing assessments, she had the opportunity to read thousands of student essays. In her first novel, she shows her familiarity with the sensibilities of both children and adults by penning a novel that never talks down to its readers—and is well designed to be read, and shared, aloud.

From the start of No Ordinary Cat, it’s clear that young Rufus is going to be an explorer. Inspired by the tales of Uncle Oscar, whose own youthful days involved adventures at sea, Rufus stares out the window, observing the world. When he’s adopted by Mrs. Lin, a gardener and baker, he soon becomes an indispensable helper, keeping the woman company by making sure she doesn’t forget ingredients and by digging holes for her flower bed. By his first birthday, he feels the urge to wander:

It seemed he’d mastered everything his surroundings had to teach, and the perimeters of his new domain, once boundless as the sky, began closing in on him. He recalled something that Uncle Oscar had once said. “When your world grows too small, catling, you’re the only one who can make it bigger.” He was itching to do that very thing. But how?

So off into the world goes Rufus, and a misadventure with some geese lands him in the comfortable home of lonely poet Mr. Peabody, who grows to love having the cat in his home. But when the poet discovers that his new writing companion is Mrs. Lin’s missing cat, he knows he must give poor Rufus up. To avoid Mr. Peabody resuming a lonely existence, Mrs. Lin persuades him to adopt Asha. While the aloof, almost wild cat doesn’t behave as anyone expects, her arrival provides Rufus with a new understanding that friendship—which he always thought was so easy—doesn’t come easily to everyone. Rufus’ ability to fill the hole of loneliness, and to help others connect, is a thing that makes him very special.

This touching story of loneliness, healing, and friendship resonates strongly as a book published in 2020, a year when many people had to forego their normal, in-person relationships and friendships due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Loneliness has been a universal theme of late,” Spandel shares. “During lockdowns, we couldn’t go for coffee with friends or hug children and grandchildren who lived elsewhere. Animal companions kept many people going, and that’s ultimately what the book is about: the power of friendship and the healing bond between animals and humans.”

The theme of loneliness isn’t the only part of No Ordinary Cat that may resonate, especially with creative voices who went through periods of being unable to write during the pandemic. The frustration of not finding words is much older, of course, and readers of all ages are likely to find Mr. Peabody’s initial struggle to write his poems familiar. In the story, Rufus’ presence is exactly the change that Mr. Peabody needs to find the inspiration to write again, and some of his poems (and a recipe for crabcakes) are presented at the end of the book.

Spandel avoids the term writer’s block, choosing to think of the moment when the words won’t come as “more an interruption.” And while adopting a pet every time a writer gets stuck is not an option, sometimes just a change of scenery can do the trick. “When a passage simply won’t come together for me, I’ll work on a different part of the document—or take a walk. Writing doesn’t really live on a computer anyway. It lives inside our heads. Writers do some of their best work away from their desks.”

Both Rufus and Asha were inspired by real-world cats. Spandel’s experience with the stray who inspired Rufus was only brief, but Asha “is based on a real-life legend, Snooky,” she says. “For 22 years, Snooky guarded my Grandmother Daisy’s home in North Dakota, taking on all comers, including ferrets and dogs. I grew up on stories of this fantastical warrior and wanted to honor her colorful history with a cat who has tiger blood in her veins too.” Spandel’s own cats, Suki and Zoe, also make cameo appearances as Rufus’ neighbor cats, Karma and Sadie, who have no inclination to explore the wider world.

Like Mr. Peabody, who reads his poetry aloud to Rufus, Spandel recommends that writers read their work aloud—or have someone read it to them. “My developmental editor, Steve Peha, reads my writing to me,” she says, “which is a much different experience and even more helpful.” In the case of No Ordinary Cat, the result is that the novel has an oral cadence that makes it perfect for sharing with young children.

In the introduction to the novel, Spandel shares that her favorite books to read with her children were the ones that had the family asking, “Where were we?” when they picked it up the next night. In 2022, they may ask about their places in the forthcoming sequels to No Ordinary Cat, Finding Waihona and Asha, Queen of Cats, as well.

With this first children’s book, Spandel’s work has entered into that canon of the type of story best shared aloud, whether that’s an adult to a young child—or perhaps an adult to a beloved pet. Even for readers who have no audience with whom to share the words, the characters within these pages, and their triumph over loneliness and toward friendship, may offer a remedy for a reader’s own loneliness. Friends, both feline and human, can be found within these pages.

Alana Joli Abbott writes about pop culture, fantasy and science fiction, and children’s books.