Copycat

Colin Dann's Copycat is an animal adventure for 8 year olds about two London cats on the run from the men who are rounding up strays.

What happens

Sammy is a battered old tabby with a stripe across his face that looks like a crossing-out. Pinkie is his little white mate with blue eyes. They've been living happily in Regent's Park with their three kittens. Then one April afternoon the men in navy overalls come stamping across the grass, and the kittens don't make it out behind them.

The city has decided there are too many strays. Cats are being caught in vans and snares. So Sammy and Pinkie have to leave.

Help comes from Buster, a fluffy, very pleased-with-himself pet tabby with his own cat flap. He hides them in his kitchen and has a plan. Hop into his owner's car, ride out of the city, and jump out when the door opens! It nearly works (the poor salesman gets the fright of his life).

Then Sammy has a big idea of his own. If they can't escape the city, they'll look like pets instead. That means grooming, good manners and no more half-rotten fish from the river. Sammy even does a deal with Monty, a nervous pet cat whose owners are away, guarding his food bowl in return for dinner.

The best bit is the way the two cats see it so differently. Sammy was a pet once and rather likes the idea. Pinkie has always been wild and thinks the whole thing is preposterous. Their bickering is very funny and quite touching. You can feel a proper disagreement brewing between them!

It's worth knowing that it opens sadly. The kittens are lost in the very first chapter, and Sammy and Pinkie have to carry on without them. There's also talk of strays being "destroyed", and at one point Sammy hears a cornered cat's scream. A child who's very tender about animals may find that hard. If your reader copes fine with a bit of real danger in their animal stories, it's gripping.

Sammy and Pinkie have had adventures before this one (there's talk of a great journey), but you don't need them to follow it.

What to read next

If they love animals working together to survive, try The Animals of Farthing Wood. It's by Colin Dann too. Badger, Fox, Tawny Owl and the rest have lost their pond to the bulldozers, and they have to decide together what to do.