Varjak Paw

S. F. Said's Varjak Paw is a tense, exciting adventure for 8 year olds about a kitten who climbs the garden wall and heads for a city he's never seen.

What happens

Varjak is a Mesopotamian Blue, which his family think is a very grand thing to be. They live shut away in the Contessa's house on the hill, and nobody has gone over the wall since their famous ancestor Jalal.

Varjak's the odd one out. His eyes are the wrong colour and his big brother Julius calls him an insect. He's also the only one who still listens to his grandfather's tales of Jalal's adventures.

Then a Gentleman in shiny black shoes walks in with two silent black cats, and the Contessa's room is suddenly empty. The family get caviare and a toy mouse and decide everything's fine.

Varjak's grandfather, the Elder Paw, knows it isn't. He sends Varjak over the wall to fetch the one thing that might scare a man away. A dog.

The trouble is, Varjak has never seen a dog. How do you find something when you don't know what it looks like?

The tales say dogs are huge monsters with foul breath and a deafening roar. You can imagine what he decides when he meets his first road full of cars! Your reader will be well ahead of him, which is a lot of the fun.

It moves fast. The opening chapters are short and most of them end on a jolt. In between come the dreams, where an old cat in starry Mesopotamia starts teaching Varjak the secret Way of Jalal (he's a very strict teacher).

Sheltering from a storm, he meets a spiky black-and-white cat who won't even tell him her name. She talks about gangs, and about something called the Vanishings.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Varjak and his grandfather work out that the Contessa has probably died (you don't see it). Then in chapter five the black cats attack the Elder Paw while Varjak watches, and Varjak has to leave him lying there.

Julius is a proper bully, and the Gentleman is very creepy. A child who gets upset about animals being hurt (this one is a much-loved grandfather) might find it too much. This all comes early on, so it isn't a spoiler.

If your reader likes being a bit scared and loves an underdog, they'll probably race through it.

What to read next

For another small hero whose family think there's something wrong with him, try The Tale of Despereaux. He's a tiny mouse with enormous ears who'd rather read a story about a knight than nibble the pages.