"While many readers discovered Le Guin through the voice of Ged in A Wizard of Earthsea or Shevek in The Dispossessed, others began with Thelma, Roger, James, and Harriet, the titular flying felines of the series Catwings. Le Guin published this small, illustrated series between 1988 and 1999 (as well as a few follow-ups much later online). Written for young children, the books told of winged cats moving from the big dangerous city to the countryside."
"A Visit from Dr. Katz (1988) was about the healing power of feline affection. Cat Dreams (2009) explored their sleeping worlds through rhymes and beautiful illustrations by S. D. Schindler, who also provided the art for Catwings. But she never centered cats in any of her more than 20 novels or giant catalog of short fiction. Perhaps this was because she understood cats as well as she understood people. Cats live each moment immediately and, too, often, they live but briefly relative to us."
A posthumous collection gathers children's stories, poems, sketches, doodles, and correspondence about cats, including the Catwings series, A Visit from Dr. Katz, and Cat Dreams. The pieces range from whimsical and silly to tranquil and observational, with several addressing loss. Illustrations by S. D. Schindler appear alongside sketches that supply much humor. The collection emphasizes cats' immediacy and ephemerality, celebrating shared or witnessed moments with feline friends across forms. Many pieces were published earlier; some appear here for the first time, assembled to showcase affectionate, melancholic, and playful portraits of feline life.
Read at Portland Monthly
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