The Snow Cat

Holly Webb's The Snow Cat is a Christmas time-slip story for 7 year olds about a big white cat who leads a girl into the past.

What happens

Bel's gran has moved out of her old house and into a flat in Oak House, a grand old mansion turned into sheltered housing. Bel isn't sure about it. Gran's frailer these days and has a cough that won't go. And no pets are allowed, which is sad, because Gran has had eleven cats (Bel knows every one of their names).

Then Gran finds a booklet about the house. Inside is an old photo of a girl about Bel's age in a frilly dress, hugging a huge white cat. That same afternoon Bel sees a white cat in the garden, just like it.

Bel's a bit spooked. She hates ghost stories, and the old corridors are full of shadows and billowing curtains. But Mum and Dad are off on a trip, so she's staying with Gran anyway.

On the first morning there's deep snow. Bel creeps out while Gran's asleep, and there's the cat. He leads her into the shrubbery and under a big fir tree. When she crawls out the other side, a girl in a red coat with a velvet collar is standing on the path. Her name is Charlotte Armstrong, and this is her house.

What's so nice is that Bel's half scared and half thrilled the whole time, and she argues with herself about it. Is it a dream? What if she gets stuck? She goes back anyway, of course. Wouldn't you?

Charlotte is great company. She has a governess, she'd much rather go to school, and she thinks Bel is a poor girl from the village who can't afford a coat (Bel just forgot to put hers on).

It's only fair to say it gets sad. Charlotte's little sister Lucy is very ill with influenza, and the grown-ups are frightened for her. Her mum has been crying, and Charlotte has overheard talk of a dangerously high fever. There's also a big black dog in the woods who snarls at Bel. A child who's had someone poorly at home might find this close to the bone. A reader who likes a story with real feeling will be wrapped up in it.

What to read next

If they love a girl, a grandparent and a snowy garden that turns magical, try The Snow Bear. Sara is snowed in at Grandad's clifftop cottage before Christmas, and the bear she makes on the lawn is waiting for her as a living cub.