Lulu and the Cat in the Bag

Hilary McKay's Lulu and the Cat in the Bag is a warm, funny animal story for 7 year olds about a bag on the doorstep that snores.

What happens

Lulu's parents are away, so Nan has come to look after her and her cousin Mellie. Nan is brave, kind and very quick. She's also not an animal person, which is tricky in a house with two dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, goldfish and an ancient parrot.

Then, on the very first morning, there's an enormous bag on the doorstep. It's warm. It's lumpy. And it's snoring.

Mellie can think of lots of things that might be in there (a bundle of snakes, maybe). Nan goes off to phone for help. Lulu just opens it.

Out shoots the biggest orange cat anyone has ever seen, with eyes like lime-green sweets and paws like beanbags. It's gone in a flash. Nan is delighted. Lulu is heartbroken, until she finds it curled up asleep on her bed later that day.

What follows is Lulu and Mellie trying to keep a giant cat secret from a grandmother who thinks cats are the worst pets of all. Of course that doesn't last long! The cat terrifies the dogs, brings in flowers from every garden in the street and generally takes charge.

Nan is the star, really. She grumbles about the cat out loud and quietly buys it salmon treats. Mellie gets the giggles at all the wrong moments, and Charlie from next door makes everything worse with gruesome stories about his own cat's hunting (rats under the fridge, anyone?).

It reads beautifully aloud. The sentences are short and bouncy, the jokes land and there's a proper little puzzle when the cat vanishes. Lulu's way with animals is lovely too. She knows not to grab at the cat and lets it decide for itself that she's safe.

For an animal-mad child, especially one who'd bring home every stray if you let them, Lulu will feel like a kindred spirit.

What to read next

For more of Lulu and Mellie hanging out of the bedroom window to spy on the neighbours, Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door has a new boy next door who thinks his pet rabbit is boring.