I'm seeking the title and author of a children's book that,
unfortunately, I remember very little about. The book would have had
to have been published before 1995. I borrowed it many times from John
Gomes Elementary (in Fremont, CA), and found it in the card catalog
there by looking up "cat" and "magic". I recall something about
"Valerie" which could be part of the author's name, or perhaps a
character. The main character lived in house number 101, and I
distinctly remember the chant by which she summoned her magical cat:
"By squeak of bat and brown owl hoot
by hellebore and mandrake root
come swift and silent as the tomb
dark minion of the twiggy broom."
Huge thanks to anyone who is willing to tackle this. |
Request for Question Clarification by
pinkfreud-ga
on
12 Apr 2003 16:10 PDT
Could the book be "Winnie the Witch," written by Valerie Thomas and
illustrated by Korky Paul?
http://www.beebo.com.my/winnie.html
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Clarification of Question by
snymph-ga
on
13 Apr 2003 02:58 PDT
Unfortunately, that's not it. It wasn't very heavy on pictures. Thanks, though.
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Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
13 Apr 2003 07:29 PDT
Hi snymph,
Could it be "The Cat and Mrs. Cary" by D. Gates? It is a story about a
lonely woman who retires from the city to a small house by the sea.
She finds a cat in her backyard (the cat can talk) and her nephew
comes to visit for the summer.
As for the "Valerie" connection - have a look at this link about the
herb Valerian.
Valerian is powerful cat magic!
http://www.freddie-street.com/letters/puli.shtml
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Clarification of Question by
snymph-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 13:43 PDT
Hummer,
I don't think that's it; the nephew doesn't ring a bell. It's
definitely a similar sort of book, though. You could be right about
the Valerian, as well. Thanks for giving this a shot, I really
appreciate it.
Also, I don't know if it will help, but I'm sure the book had a
sequel.
Thanks again.
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