My Nine Lives by Clio - Softcover

Priceman, Marjorie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689846703 ISBN 13: 9780689846700

Publisher: Aladdin, 2001

Synopsis

Having had nine lives, Clio's scrapbook is filled with great adventures that tell of the great changes that have happened throughout history, from her years in Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C. through recent adventures in early 20th century New Orleans. Reprint.

About this title

Review

The strangest thing happened. The owner of a cat named Clio found a journal under an old couch--a diary that was clearly created by the clever feline herself, now in the joyous throes of her ninth life. The cat's owner knew this unusual historical document must be published! The journal, rough and enticing as a cave painting, begins in Mesopotamia, in 3000 B.C. "Alive! I yawn. I look around. I am in Mespotamia, the 'land between two rivers.' I see fields of wheat and rivers full of fish. I am getting hungry." That night, this valuable cat names the constellations! Life number two begins in China, in 1500 B.C., where Clio serves as the first sundial in the world--except when it's cloudy or when she's off chasing butterflies. She invents the alphabet in Rome in 600 B.C., and twists, flips, and travels through the year 1500, where she lives in Italy with Leonardo Da Vinci, eats cheese, and tests out his flying machine: "The experiment is a flop. But Oh! The views!" Life number nine begins in 1995, in Wisconsin, where nine kittens are born into their first, hugely historic lives. Is any of this conjecture, however delightful, based in fact? An appended section in the back tackles the validity of Clio's journals and unearths some astonishing facts and fictions. For example, "It has been pointed out that if the alphabet wasn't invented until life number three, then how were lives number one and number two written?" Harumph. Marjorie Priceman--illustrator of Lloyd Moss's Caldecott Honor Book Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!--tickles our fancy again with her offbeat sense of humor and ever-artful style. A fun, tongue-in-cheek tribute to cats and their unquenchable sense of self-importance. (Ages 6 and older) --Karin Snelson

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-6-"Alive! I yawn." So begins the first journal entry of Clio, an extraordinary cat who chronicles each of her nine lives. After naming the constellations in ancient Mesopotamia, she goes on to invent the clock, the alphabet, and the fork. She makes the Mona Lisa smile and causes the accident that leads a Viking ship to discover America. Finally, she ends up in modern-day Wisconsin and gives birth to a litter of kittens. Using watercolor, gouache, and colored pencils, Priceman creates double-page spreads that look like a real journal. The painted backgrounds capture the texture of old paper, complete with water stains and ink splotches. Clio's writings and sketches are rendered in a style appropriate to the historical period she is describing. Occasionally, scrapbook items are presented in a trompe l'oeil style (a feather from 1500 Italy; her son's first flea under a piece of scotch tape; the postmarked envelope in which the journal arrived at the publisher's door). It's this attention to detail (extending to the flap copy, which explains that Clio is also an acclaimed children's book illustrator working under the pseudonym of "Marjorie Priceman") and refusal to give up the game that makes this irreverent romp through history a real charmer. Brief notes at the end clarify historical questions and set kids on the right track. This is a delightful story of a cat with a very distinctive voice, a good sense of humor, and a knack with a paintbrush. Highly appealing fun for children who appreciate the absurd.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0689846703
• ISBN 13: 9780689846700
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Priceman Marjorie