The Abandoned (New York Review Children's Collection)

This novel has been a personal favorite of mine for many decades. Having been a "cat person" since childhood, I cherish a beautifully-told story about cats that shows uncanny, indeed brilliant, insight into feline psychology and behavior, a story which is at the same time an adventure story and a love story. What was not so clear to me forty years ago is that it shows equal insight into human psychology and shines its warm light well beyond the feline world. How Gallico managed to combine the two sets of insights---seemingly effortlessly---into a completely coherent and emotionally rich story about a real and believable human child and a real and believable cat is the crowning wonder. Not only that: he managed it in simple-seeming and beautiful prose, making it perfectly appropriate for children. As I approach my "second childhood" I find that in fact I have had many childhoods, and that this novel has nourished me in all of them. It is a tale for every age.

This is truly a beautifully written, charming, sensitive story about a little boy who appears to be unloved by his parents, sternly disciplined by his nanny, and alone, longing for a cat companion. It is refreshing to read about a boy and his yearning for a cat, rather than a dog. When he finds himself mysteriously turned into a cat and actually abandoned by the family he loved as a human, he is looked after by another cat who has suffered the same fate--abandonment by a loved family. The richness of story-telling, the range of emotional connection to the cats, and the education of cats' worlds facinate from beginning to end. Although this is a children's book, I, as an adult, could not put it down. This is the best read I've had in many lives (at least nine!). I highly recommend this to all parents of animal-loving children!

I am looking forward to a re-read of this interesting and fun cat tale (tail?), a book that has been out of print for nearly a decade. Now, thank heaven, it's available again, and so I can anticipate the pleasure of a re-read, as well as the pleasure of giving the book as a gift to dear friends.This is a story of a small boy who gets turned into a cat, and then must quickly learn the lessons needed for feline survival in a rough, tough, post-WW II bombed-out London and Glasgow. Luckily, our protagonist has a coach in his trials for survival in the form of a she-cat, Jenny ('Jenny' was the original UK title of the book, by the way), and along the way we all learn lessons about survival, both feline and human.Paul Gallico was a reporter in Nazi-Germany in the '30s and knows how to state a thought with clarity and immediacy. He was a prolific and eclectic writer - powerful adventure tales like 'Poseidon Down' made his success - and with this seemingly trivial 'cat story' one might get the impression that he 'throttled back'. But Gallico is a supreme observer of cats and humans, and in this surprising novel he is at the top of his game. I've read it twice (the first time out loud to my wife, who was so frightened by an unexpected twist in the story that she refused to read on), and I love the book. Love it enough for a re-read.It's a book for cat lovers. It's a book for animal lovers...yeah, sure. But it's a book for observers of the cat and human condition, for thinkers, and especially those who appreciate damn good writing.

A book in the children's classics series from the NYRB, the tale of a boy transformed into a cat after being hit by a car as he ran into the street to rescue a cat. More child's Metamorphosis than Wind in the Willows, he learns to live as a cat in the feline Land of Oz that is London from the cat's eye view. No tapping of ruby slippers here but everything works out in the end. If you like reading a good children's book now and again, this is an enjoyable one.

Sometimess you look again at a book you really liked a long time ago, and it’s hard to see why you liked it so much. Your perspective has changed, your critical faculties have matured, you’re concerned with current events, etc.; you’ve put away childish things. I’m not sure when I first read The Abandoned, but I know I read it aloud in a car as we drove home from Disneyland to Echo Park. When we arrived in the driveway, nobody wanted to move until I had finished the book. I was 30, my daughter was 8, my son was 4, and my friend was 45. Now it’s 50 years later (all numbers approximate) and I just read it again. It’s a goddam wonderful book. If you are so unfortunate as to not have read it, you should rectify that immediately.

I loved this book as a child. I remembered it when visiting with my sister and ordered the kindle version. Even though I had difficulty downloading it onto my device, I was able to pour through it on my phone. It was still as wonderful a tale as I remembered it to be. The writing powerful enough to draw tears. I loved it all over again!

I read The Abandoned when I was young, and bought it this time to give to my grandson, who is a great reader. I read it again before I mailed it to him, and it was as good now that I am old as it was when I was young.

My late grandma was an English teacher for decades. This is one of the books she had her classes read and she got me hooked on it while I was growing up. I read it more than once while visiting my grandparents' house each summer and always loved it. Anyone who loves cats and appreciates their quirky personalities will appreciate what Paul Gallico did with these characters. The story is just delightful, with Peter having to learn the rudiments of catdom. His lovely Jenny teaches him everything. I still own the yellowed, tattered paperback from which my grandma taught. It has her underlines and notes in the margins. It's priceless. :)

The definitive source to the understanding of cats!Written in an age prior to computer technology.A literary masterpiece of adventure, imagination and a colourful example of loyalty and friendship.This will be the best gift i could ever give a young person.....or older for that matter !

Thanks!

Paul Gallico is one of the authors that lives on my bookshelf and gets reread. This is a gift for one of my grandchildren. When I was 9 my parents gave me a collection of three novellas and "The Snow Goose" brought me to tears. His storytelling stands the test of time, a great tale is one you discover new nuances and perspectives each time you read it. This tale of Peter and his Jennie Baldrin is a treasure (whether you are 10 or 62).