As a reminder, I am reviewing one book each day until Christmas, in no particular order.
Each choice is special in its own way. All would make great gifts for your cat addicted book lovers. Or your book addicted cat lovers.
Why cat books? Several reasons, really. I adore cats. Cats appear in most of my fiction. And I enjoy promoting cat books for the holidays, because I frequently give or get them as gifts myself. And finally, so many people have a cat, that cat themed gifts are an industry. You can’t go wrong.
Today I am reviewing “Scarlett Saves Her Family,” by Jane Martin & J.C. Suares.
Yesterday’s book was all about kitten rescue. Today’s is too, but in a different sense. It tells the inspiring story of Scarlett, a stray mother cat whose motherly instinct was so strong that she rescued her kittens from a huge fire.
This book was released in 1997, and I was a little afraid that it wouldn’t still be available, but it is. I think it’s because of the enduring narrative about this amazing cat. It really reminds us that animals can do incredible things, especially to save their young.
Scarlett had kept her kittens in an abandoned garage that caught fire. The firefighters arrived to work it and found three of her kittens in a group, with smoky fur. Later they found two more. They realized that the only way five kittens could have escaped the fire is if a mother cat had brought them out, one by one. And that meant she’d gone into the fire multiple times. If she was alive she’d be in bad shape.
They found her, and she was. Her eyes were blistered shut and her paws were burned, but she was alive. They took her to a rescue, along with her kittens, where Scarlett got the emergency care she needed. The fire nearly took her life, but would she pull through? This book gives us the incredible details of what it took to save her.
It didn’t take long for Scarlett’s compelling story to make the news. She touched the hearts of many animal lovers and thousands of people called the shelter about her. Everyone wanted to know if Scarlett was going to survive. Cards and letters arrived to decorate her cage. Some of the sweet letters from children are included in the book, along with pictures of the headlines, and many pictures of a healing Scarlett and her kittens.
The book goes on to tell of the process of finding the kittens and Scarlett their forever homes. As her wounds healed, Scarlett became “the most wanted cat in the world.” The shelter had the Herculean task of figuring out from the thousands of requests where the family would go.
This book is a sweet tear-jerker perfect for those cat fans who love an amazing comeback story. If you’re the kind of person that would send in the request to adopt the cat who loved her kittens so much she endured severe burns to save them, then you have to read this one. This one is one of my enduring favorite cat books.
