BookBairn has a little book-obsession at the moment. It's Hamish McHamish in my 'I Love St Andrews' book by Carly Brown and Gi...

Nomadic Cats

Thursday, June 02, 2016 BookBairn 6 Comments

BookBairn has a little book-obsession at the moment. It's Hamish McHamish in my 'I Love St Andrews' book by Carly Brown and Gillian Gamble.

For my Christmas my mum gave me a copy of this beautiful book and, quite honestly, I cried when I first read it. It more or less depicts the story of my life.

A young girl who spends her childhood holidays in St Andrews, who then goes on to study there and gets married in the incredible beautiful St. Salvator's Chapel, and at the end who promises to return soon (for those of you that know me, you will know that we returned over and over again until I convinced Daddy BookBairn to move as close as possible!). This book lives on my bedside table and I read it often to remind me of how grateful I am to have been so lucky to have lived a fairytale. Just to prove that I actually lived this book here are some illustrations from the book side by side with family snapshots.


BookBairn often comes in to our room and commandeers my precious book, enjoying flipping through the pages. She is hunting for the page featuring Hamish McHamish, a ginger cat, famous locally for his nomadic nature, spending his days exploring local business and homes, making many friends along the way.


We decided to go and visit the Hamish statue in the town square and read 'I Love St Andrews' making "miaow" noises as we read.

We also enjoyed the tale of 'Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius' by Katie Harnett. This is the endearing story of a cat who spends his days nomadically exploring his neighbourhood, Blossom Street. Each neighbour has a different name for the cat, hence the title of this story and each is oblivious of the others that the cat visits each day, thinking of him purely as 'their cat'. But there is one neighbour who has never been visited by the cat, or anyone else for that matter until one day she receives a parcel (of wool!!) which the cat has perched atop. To all the other neighbours, 'their cat' is now missing and each makes a poster and heads out in search of their furry friend. Soon they realise that they are all searching for the same cat! They all bundle onto the doorstep of number eleven and are greeted by a confused Mrs Murray, She lets them in and tells them all about the fun that her and the cat have been having and they decide that he has finally found his permanent home, so long as they are allowed to visit.

This is a sweet tale about loneliness, communities and friendship. Beautifully, illustrated with a diverse cast of characters, the story is set in a street that will look familiar to us all (we all know a Blossom Street). The cat in the story has some semblance to internet sensation, grumpy cat but with more fun and warmth. This is such a heart-warming story, and with subtle touches of humour, that will appeal to adults as much as children.

There are many similarities between this heartfelt tale and the story of Hamish McHamish, and I wonder if they wouldn't have made a cute furry couple!

Mummy and BookBairn xx


*DISCLAIMER* I was given our book for free for review purposes, however, all words and opinions are my own.




6 comments:

  1. Nice swing, MummyBookBairn. Is it too early for BookBairn's first set? Maybe I should wait until she can stand up on her own.

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    1. She can almost stand on her own now - maybe by the end of the summer?

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  2. Those side by side photos are blowing my mind. Even your wee beach hat is just like my illustration. How fun to see this.

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    1. Yes, it's very much like you drew parts of my childhood! That's why it's such a magical book for me! Thank you!

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  3. I'm amazed at how BookBairn hunts carefully through the pages and isn't chewing them or ripping them out!! Well-schooled

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    1. She loves books too much to damage them I think! ;)

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