Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

By T.S. Eliot

Book Overview

The inspiration for the iconic musical Cats, T. S. Eliot's classic and delightful collection of poetry about cats, with whimsical illustrations by Edward Gorey.

These playful verses by a celebrated poet have delighted readers and cat lovers around the world since they were gathered for publication in 1939.

As Valerie Eliot has pointed out, there are a number of references to cats in T.S. Eliot's work, but it was to his godchildren, particularly Tom Faber and Alison Tandy, that he first revealed himself as "Old Possum" and for whom he composed his poems.

This captivating edition is a curious and artful homage to felines young and old, merry and fierce, small and unmistakably round. Also includes Edward Gorey's charming pen and ink illustrations. Gorey gives a fresh intepretation of "Mr. Mistoffelees," "Growltiger," "The Rum Tum Tugger," "Bustopher Jones," "Skimbleshanks," "Macavity: the Mystery Cat," and a variety of other memorable feline strays all of whom have been brought to life on the stage in the hit musical Cats.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151686564
• ISBN13: 9780151686568
• Release Date: August 1982
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.8" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

I love it and I know a kid who would too.

Reading this, it's so easy to see how this was well adapted into a sung-through musical. It's easy to follow, has amazing sense of rhythm, and anyone whose owned a cat can relate. My one complaint is the writer's tendency to look down on the Asian community, but that's more to do with generational differences than any real literary issues.

Didn't really enjoy myself but it made a good gift!

Didn't really like this in physical form or audio but my friend absolutely loved receiving it. I really loved the art in this though and was really happy with the hardback size.

Enjoyed this book!!!

I bought this for myself and a fellow cat lover. It just reminds me of the Broadway show "Cats", which was a favorite of mine. I believe ALL cat lovers will enjoy this book. They are really cute poems.

Fun read

Got this book after seeing the musical Cats. It's a great book for reading aloud to children.

Perfect for read-aloud, family reading, and libraries alike

T.S. Eliot's fine cat poems appear in a gorgeous, illustrated new edition from Axel Scheffler, a fine children's book illustrator, and makes for an excellent library acquisition or gift idea for all ages. Celebrations of cats odd and ordinary are presented in Eliot's unique verse and benefit from Scheffler's whimsical, fun color drawings throughout. Perfect for read-aloud, family reading, and libraries alike.

Naming a cat is a labor of love

I read this collection because I found it in a book of collected poems, etc. I was really interested in "Murder in the Cathedral." Well, I read this collection of poems regarding cats with great interest. Partly because I do like cats, and also because I am of English descent. T.S. has his English cats down to a "T". Naming them is great fun and his cat names are GREAT. His desciption of their behaviour and antics pretty much lets you know he has been introduced to many a cat in his day. These cats almost come off the page and play with you, they are so true to life. Read this collection if you love cats and want a few moments of private recollection. No doubt you will recognize a cat you have known or are getting to know.

For "cats are very much like you and me" ...

Based on works such as the poems "Prufrock" (1917) and "Ash Wednesday" (1930) and the drama "Murder in the Cathedral" (1935), American-born and naturalized British poet and future Nobel laureate T(homas) S(tearns) Eliot - also founder and editor of the literary journal "Criterion" - was already an established writer when, in 1939, he came up with this series of poems for children, which due to their timeless charm and humorous insight into the feline nature had long become literary classics for the young and old alike before Trevor Nunn and Andrew Lloyd Webber used them as a basis for their award-winning musical "Cats." My favorite rendition of these poems, which were originally a gift from "Old Possum" Eliot to his godchildren, is the 1983 recording featuring Sir John Gielgud and his recurrent stage partner Irene Worth, who alternatingly read the poems and bring to life the likes of Jennyanydots the old Gumbie Cat (who at night displays a show of unexpected zeal in training mice and cockroaches in the art of keeping a clean house), the old "bravo cat" Growltiger (who, already having lost one eye and one ear in battle, one balmy night has "no eye or ear for aught but [the lady] Griddlebone," thus at last making himself vulnerable to his many enemies and "forced to walk the plank"), Rum Tum Tugger, the "curious cat," who very much has a mind of his own and always seems to want exactly the opposite of what you have given him ("For he will do as he do do, and there's no doing anything about it"), and Macavity, "the Napoleon of crime," who controls even notorious scoundrels like Mungojerrie and who is fatefully remeniscient of Berthold Brecht's Mac the Knife in rhyme, metre, name and character. Sir John Gielgud and Irene Worth bring not only their entire impeccable theatrical training to the project but, more importantly, a great sense of humor and a true feeling for the nature of each feline protagonist - and for their canine adversaries; because, as nobody can seriously doubt any longer by the time when we have reached the last poem, "a cat is not a dog!" So you truly hear that Chinese vase go "bing!" when Irene Worth tells the story of the eternal pranksters Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer; you see them turning the basement into a "field of war," and you hear the cook's desperation when she has to inform the family that there will be no meat for dinner because "the joint has gone from the oven - like that!" You can picture Old Deuteronomy sleeping or sitting in the sun, and see his slow, ponderous movements as you hear John Gielgud's rendition of the oldest village inhabitant's ever-unchanging comment: "Well, of all ... things ... Can it be ... really! ... No! ... Yes! ... Ho! hi! Oh, my eye!" Reading about "the Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles," Irene Worth does not merely give you the dogs' various kinds of bark; true to character she moreover endows them with their respective Pekinese, Yorkshire and Scottish accents. Similarly, h

Good poetry; brilliant illustrations

The poetry - well, there are many editions of the work the Andrew Lloyd-Webber made the most famous of Eliot's books. Gorey's illustrations bring the poems to life in a whole new way. This is a book for any collector, and a great introduction to one of the world's greatest illustrators.

A Great Poetry Book

This is a funny, interesting poem book. I got it right after I saw Cats the play. I suggest you get this book.