Peter Warner - The Cats of Moon Cottage Books

My first collaboration with Marilyn Edwards has become a bestseller since its publication
in September 2003. There was an immediate rapport between us, and recognising this successful
association, in the great English tradition of author/illustrator partnerships, Hodder & Stoughton
commissioned three more titles to make a quartet of books.

I felt immediate affinity with The Cats of Moon Cottage because Marilyn articulates with great sensitivity intricate feline relationships that I recognise from years of being possessed by, and studying, some wonderful cats in my life. My two cats Django and Blue had,fortuitously, many comparable characteristics to Marilyn's cats in the book, and stood - and sat and purred - for well over a hundred spontaneous pencil drawings. Such feline essence can only be captured live at the drop of a hat, so paper and pencils waited in strategic positions all over studio and house! Pencil drawings made this way in direct response to a moving subject have a fluency, vitality and integrity almost impossible to achieve otherwise.

Very sadly Django died at 7pm on Thursday, 9 October 2003, aged 19 years, 3 months and 9 days, The Cats of Moon Cottage thus became a magnificent memorial for him.

For all four books Marilyn and I collaborated to marry about seventy of these free drawings with decisive feline moments in the text, which was then designed around them. I hope this process has added something special to the underlying spirit of these wonderfully funny and poignant tales.

The Cats of Moon Cottage
Funny, poignant and philosophical, The Cats of Moon Cottage celebrates the joys and heartache of living with cats. Beautifully written, it tells the true story of two cats. One is the old, loyal, but independent Septi, very much his own cat, established as lord of his domain within Moon Cottage. The other is Otto, a tiny, delicate tortoiseshell kitten, who joins the household as the story begins and who, for her survival and in a manner particular to her, must set out to win Septi over.
This wonderful memoir will ring true with all who love cats, and is a testimony and a tribute to that unique and rewarding relationship which exists between humans and their feline companions in which cats, in their splendid complexity, remain among us, but not of us.

More Cat Tales from Moon Cottage
Two young cats, Fannie and Titus, having been born and brought up as sisters in the previously tranquil surroundings of Moon Cottage, suddenly find they have to deal with vigorous disruption by the usurper Pushkin, a young Russian Blue tom kitten. Pushkin establishes his own ground rules for his survival in this female feline fastness, but there are many obstacles to be overcome in the struggle for co-existence amongst the three cats.
At no point in this narrative, which is at times funny and others touching, do the cats ever lose their feline integrity. The author, on the one hand, captures the details of her cats' behaviour and examines topics such as feline jealousy, emotional security and the degrees of affection a cat may feel for its human companion and on the other hand raises many of the issues that cat lovers themselves experience, such as the anguish of deciding 'house-cat' or 'free-roaming', the pain of cats going missing, the empathy of nursing a cat through illness and the great privilege of loving and being loved in return by those extraordinary animals who remain among us and yet are not of us.

The Cats on Hutton Roof
The author is happily ensconced within the safe haven of Moon Cottage with her husband, his son and their three cats Fannie, Titus and Pushkin. But things happen to enable a dream to come true. A move to the countryside is on the horizon. However, the stuff that dreams are made of does not always suit the cats in one's life because, as all cat-lovers will recognise, cats hate change.
As in the earlier books the author combines humour, a little sadness and her own particular brand of enthusiasm while studying the issues raised by cohabiting with felines. In this book she tackles too the problem of realising a dream only to find that the dream is not necessarily the perfection it was imagined to be. Feline bereavement, reproduction, jealousy, passion, love, laughter, tenderness, wildlife in general an in particular village life in Cumbria are all discussed in Marilyn's wonderful and much-loved honest style. Above all she reminds us of the truth of why cats matter.

The Coach House Cats
As the book opens it is evident that the time has come to have Pushkin, the Russian blue tom, and Titus, the ginger moggy queen, neutered. This was indeed the plan for Fannie, the tortoiseshell, but with her longed-for pregnancy well under way it must be postponed. The due date for her kittens arrives and, in the time honoured tradition of cats and best laid plans, unexpected problems arise and she does not deliver kittens. Marilyn Edwards finally resolves the resulting broody 'kitten lust' by acquiring a young black female Bengal kitten who disrupts the entire household, sending Fannie spiraling into despair, and knocking her social standing as top cat completely out of kilter.
With a fine eye and ear for the world of natural history. Marilyn Edwards is able to write about bird and plant life, and indeed farming and village life in general, with both charm and passion. but as always it is her observation of cats and their ways that make her books so magical.
The Coach House Cats was published on 21st September 2006.
For more information about the series visit the Moon Cottage Cats website.

The Cats of Moon Cottage Funny, poignant and philosophical, The Cats of Moon Cottage celebrates the joys and heartache of living with cats. Beautifully written, it tells the true story of two cats. One is the old, loyal, but independent Septi, very much his own cat, established as lord of his domain within Moon Cottage. The other is Otto, a tiny, delicate tortoiseshell kitten, who joins the household as the story begins and who, for her survival and in a manner particular to her, must set out to win Septi over. This wonderful memoir will ring true with all who love cats, and is a testimony and a tribute to that unique and rewarding relationship which exists between humans and their feline companions in which cats, in their splendid complexity, remain among us, but not of us.
More Cat Tales from Moon Cottage Two young cats, Fannie and Titus, having been born and brought up as sisters in the previously tranquil surroundings of Moon Cottage, suddenly find they have to deal with vigorous disruption by the usurper Pushkin, a young Russian Blue tom kitten. Pushkin establishes his own ground rules for his survival in this female feline fastness, but there are many obstacles to be overcome in the struggle for co-existence amongst the three cats. At no point in this narrative, which is at times funny and others touching, do the cats ever lose their feline integrity. The author, on the one hand, captures the details of her cats' behaviour and examines topics such as feline jealousy, emotional security and the degrees of affection a cat may feel for its human companion and on the other hand raises many of the issues that cat lovers themselves experience, such as the anguish of deciding 'house-cat' or 'free-roaming', the pain of cats going missing, the empathy of nursing a cat through illness and the great privilege of loving and being loved in return by those extraordinary animals who remain among us and yet are not of us.
The Cats on Hutton Roof The author is happily ensconced within the safe haven of Moon Cottage with her husband, his son and their three cats Fannie, Titus and Pushkin. But things happen to enable a dream to come true. A move to the countryside is on the horizon. However, the stuff that dreams are made of does not always suit the cats in one's life because, as all cat-lovers will recognise, cats hate change. As in the earlier books the author combines humour, a little sadness and her own particular brand of enthusiasm while studying the issues raised by cohabiting with felines. In this book she tackles too the problem of realising a dream only to find that the dream is not necessarily the perfection it was imagined to be. Feline bereavement, reproduction, jealousy, passion, love, laughter, tenderness, wildlife in general an in particular village life in Cumbria are all discussed in Marilyn's wonderful and much-loved honest style. Above all she reminds us of the truth of why cats matter.
The Coach House Cats As the book opens it is evident that the time has come to have Pushkin, the Russian blue tom, and Titus, the ginger moggy queen, neutered. This was indeed the plan for Fannie, the tortoiseshell, but with her longed-for pregnancy well under way it must be postponed. The due date for her kittens arrives and, in the time honoured tradition of cats and best laid plans, unexpected problems arise and she does not deliver kittens. Marilyn Edwards finally resolves the resulting broody 'kitten lust' by acquiring a young black female Bengal kitten who disrupts the entire household, sending Fannie spiraling into despair, and knocking her social standing as top cat completely out of kilter. With a fine eye and ear for the world of natural history. Marilyn Edwards is able to write about bird and plant life, and indeed farming and village life in general, with both charm and passion. but as always it is her observation of cats and their ways that make her books so magical. The Coach House Cats was published on 21st September 2006. For more information about the series visit the Moon Cottage Cats website.