Glorious Cats: The Paintings of Lesley Anne Ivory

This book is a treasure, not only of Lesley Anne Ivory's exquisite cat paintings, but of cat-based literature. As a dedicated mother I read to my four-year-old every night, a child who still holds a great reverence for illustrations. There is only so much Madeline one can take before going mad. Glorious Cats is a brilliant collection of both poetry and prose, and a favorite with both of us. It is a great joy to sit down with a child with a book of fluffy cat pictures and be able to read aloud poems like Tolkien's Cat on the Mat, "The giant lion with iron claw in paw, and huge ruthless tooth in gory jaw..." Or Martha Ostenso's Chinese Cat, "...Were you a Favorite, Ages ago, Who purred at an Emperor's Overthrow?" Or wonderful prose excerpts like this one from Charles Dudley Warner, "The poet who wrote so prettily of him that his little life was rounded with a sleep understated his facility; it was rounded with a good many." And Paul Gallico's essay on the Mystical Cat, "Black Magic, white magic, good luck and bad, a hundred superstitions covering every aspect of human life and condition, are ascribed to the cat. It became the familiar of witches, the companion of the devil and, of course, a god in its own right." I would give a great deal for more books of such beauty and eloquence, books which can be reread aloud again and again without losing an iota of their elegance. I highly recommend this book, and wish there were hundreds more of this caliber. The artist and editor both have done a brilliant job, gifting us with a true gem of cat paintings, poetry and prose.

Lesley Anne Ivory surely must have been a cat in a previous life to depict these creatures so wonderfully. Her paintings of cats are among the most beautiful to be found. In this book she combines her artistry with verse. Full color pictures of cats are featured along with text detailing their many virtues. Cats have long been a favorite with writers and scholars, and this book reflects that fact. You will delight in the artist's depictions of graceful felines while reading about the remarkable animals.