Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

 
Author: T.S. Eliot
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Medium: Unknown- appears to be pencils, pastels, crayons, ink, and colored pencils.
Genre: Picture Book – Fantasy Poetry
Theme: Diversity and Multiculturalism
Other Relevant Information: A Broadway musical production called "Cats" is based on this book.

Summary: According to T.S. Eliot, each and every cat has three names. One that you've given him, one that fits his specific characteristics, and one that only the cat knows alone. Then there are several types of cats out there each with unique characteristics, and a story once only known to cats, but now is about to be revealed to you.

Literary Elements:
In a collection of poems, written as letters to his godchildren, T.S. Eliot describes the unique characteristics of the types of cats you will meet and the world they live in. Each poem were all written as standalone, so because of that, the book is seen as more of an anthology of poems about cats. Essentially when they were put together in one book, it took on a new form as some sort of “guide” book for understanding cats. The poetry that T.S. Eliot uses often contains rhyming words, syllables, but it is written mostly in free-form verse. Each poem in the book varies in the style and structure, because as previously discussed, these poems were meant to be standalone. T.S. Eliot goes in great detail describing the personalities and the characteristics of each cat and the story that defines these cats, through masterful use of poetry. The illustrations in the book by Axel Scheffler help illustrate and envision what each cat character looks like, and what the events are in the book. They are distributed in small illustrations here and there on the pages, as the major focus here is the poetry itself. The illustrations are especially helpful because for each cat character, T.S. Eliot has chosen very outlandish names, and this can only make sense by reading the descriptions in the rest of the poem and by observing the illustrations.

Evaluation:
T.S. Eliot does an excellent job of capturing general cat characteristics and providing children a deep imagination of a cat’s world. The words used in his poetry are straightforward, sometimes with outlandish words but not difficult to understand. Readers who like cats or are familiar with the broadway production “Cats” will enjoy this book. I truly enjoyed this book because I myself like cats and feel like I see a lot of characteristics that describe cats reflected in this book. It’s almost as if this book artfully describes some of my own cats’ personalities.

Social Justice or Issue:
A word of caution here, this book portrays “Orientals” negatively. For instance, the author described a large group of deceitful and cunning Siamese cats as “Orientals” who sneak up and attack GrowlTiger, a seasoned boat captain who has obvious hatred for “Orientals.” Later in an unrelated poem about Dogs and the relationship they have with Cats, the author mentions yet again “Heathen Chinese” referring to dogs that are not included in the Dogs group. Given the consideration that this poetry was written in 1939 which was during a time that the Americans or British did not have positive views concerning their Oriental neighbors.

Follow-Up Activity:
Readers can write their own poetry about their own pets, in an imaginary world as told by these pets. This is a great creative project that allows students to practice writing from a different perspective and elaborating on details. A collection of poems from each students can be bundled together as a display for parents and others students to enjoy reading.