Anatole and the Cat

Last updated
Anatole and the Cat
Anatole and the Cat.jpg
Anatole and the Cat (2010 Edition)
Author Eve Titus
Illustrator Paul Galdone
Publisher Penguin Random House (Dragonfly Books)
Publication date
  • 1957
  • 12 January 2010 [1]
Media typeChildren's picture book
Pages32
Awards Caldecott Honor
ISBN 978-0375855474

Anatole and the Cat is a 1957 picture book written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The book tells the story of a mouse who secretly works at a cheese factory and what happens when the owner brings a cat to the factory. The book was a recipient of a 1958 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations. [2]

Plot

Anatole is the happiest, most contented mouse in all of Paris. He is Vice-President in charge of Cheese Tasting at Duvall’s cheese factory. He works in secret at night–the people at Duvall have no idea their mysterious taster is really a mouse! So M’sieu Duvall thinks nothing of bringing his pet cat to the factory…

Clever Anatole must act to protect his job and his life! He must do what no mouse has done before–find a way to bell the cat. Bonne chance, Anatole! [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mighty Mouse</span> American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse

Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character is a anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short The Mouse of Tomorrow. The name was changed to Mighty Mouse in his eighth film, 1944's The Wreck of the Hesperus, and the character went on to star in 80 theatrical shorts, concluding in 1961 with Cat Alarm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newbery Medal</span> American childrens literary award

The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldecott Medal</span> Annual U. S. childrens book illustrator award

The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are considered the most prestigious American children's book awards. Beside the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to runners-up they deem worthy, called the Caldecott Honor or Caldecott Honor Books.

Eve Titus was an American children's writer. She is particularly known for her books featuring the anthropomorphic mice characters Anatole, a heroic and resourceful French mouse, and Basil of Baker Street, a Victorian era mouse private detective who emulates Sherlock Holmes. Anatole later became the subject of a Canadian-produced animated television series entitled Anatole while Basil was adapted into the 1986 Disney animated feature film, The Great Mouse Detective.

Anatole is the title character in a series of children's picture books written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. "Anatole" is also the name of the series. The ten books were originally published from 1956 to 1979. Two books in the series, Anatole in 1957, and Anatole and the Cat in 1958, were named Caldecott Honor books.

Stephen Gammell is an American illustrator of children's books. He won the 1989 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman. His illustrations in Where the Buffaloes Begin by Olaf Baker (1982) and The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant (1986) earned those titles the designation of Caldecott Honor books. Although he is most widely known for his evocative, nightmarish illustrations for Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trilogy, he has illustrated nearly seventy books between 1973 and 2013, including nine which he authored himself.

<i>Basil of Baker Street</i> Childrens novels by Eve Titus

Basil of Baker Street is a series of children's novels written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The stories focus on the titular Basil of Baker Street and his personal biographer Doctor David Q. Dawson. Together they solve the many crimes and cases of the mouse world. Both live in Holmestead, a mouse community built in the cellar of 221B Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes is a tenant upstairs.

<i>Mouse Hunt</i> 1997 film by Gore Verbinski

Mouse Hunt is a 1997 American slapstick black comedy film written by Adam Rifkin and directed by Gore Verbinski in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken. The film follows two Laurel and Hardy-like brothers in their struggle against one small but crafty house mouse for possession of a mansion which was willed to them by their father. While the film is set in the late 20th century, styles range humorously from the 1940s to the 1990s. It was the first family film to be released by DreamWorks Pictures, who released it in the United States on December 19, 1997, to mixed reviews, but was a commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mo Willems</span> American childrens books illustrator and writer

Mo Willems is an American writer, animator, voice actor, and children's book author. His work includes creating the animated television series Sheep in the Big City for Cartoon Network, working on Sesame Street and The Off-Beats, and creating the popular children's book series Elephant and Piggie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Young (illustrator)</span> Chinese-born American childrens illustrator

Ed Tse-chun Young is a Chinese-born American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. He won one Caldecott Medal for the year's best American picture book and for his lifetime contribution as a children's illustrator he was twice the U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

<i>Smoky Night</i> 1994 picture book by Eve Bunting

Smoky Night is a 1994 children's book by Eve Bunting. It tells the story of a Los Angeles riot and its aftermath through the eyes of a young boy named Daniel. The ongoing fires and looting force neighbors who previously disliked each other to work together to find their cats. In the end, the cats teach their masters how to get along. The book made the list of One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century compiled by the Staff at the School Library Journal. They added the book to the list as paving the way towards the genre of serious picture books. David Diaz's acrylic, collage-like illustration of the tale earned the book the 1995 Caldecott Medal.

<i>Cheese Chasers</i> 1951 film by Chuck Jones

Cheese Chasers is a 1951 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The cartoon was released on August 25, 1951 and stars Hubie and Bertie, with Claude Cat.

<i>Once a Mouse</i> 1961 picture book by Marcia Brown

Once a Mouse is a 1961 children's picture book by Marcia Brown. Released by Scribner Press, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1962, the second time Brown received that honor.

Paul Galdone was an illustrator and writer known best for children's picture books.

<i>Anatole</i> (TV series)  TV series or program

Anatole is an animated children's television series based on the Anatole book series by Eve Titus. The series was created by Scottish Television, Valentine Productions s.a.r.l. and Nelvana as one of their numerous programmes. It originally aired on Canada's YTV network from 1998 to 1999, and premiered in the United States on CBS on 3 October 1998, and aired through the 1998–99 television season.

<i>The Lion & the Mouse</i> 2009 picture book by Jerry Pinkney

The Lion & the Mouse is a 2009 nearly wordless picture book illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book, published by Little, Brown and Company, tells Aesop's fable of The Lion and the Mouse. In the story, a mouse's life is a spared by a lion. Later, after the lion is trapped, the mouse is able to set the lion free. Adapting the fable, with the moral that the weak can help the strong, as a wordless picture book was seen as a successful way of overcoming the brief plot generally found in the source stories. While it was Pinkney's first wordless picture book, it was not the first time he had told the story, having previously included it in his Aesop's Fables, published in 2000. Pinkney, who had received five Caldecott Honors, became the first African American to win the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in this book. His illustrations were generally praised for their realism and sense of place. The cover illustrations, featuring the title characters but no text, drew particular praise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac Barnett</span> American childrens books author

Mac Barnett is an American writer of children's books living in Oakland, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Klassen</span> Canadian-born writer and illustrator

Jon Klassen is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and an animator. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which he also wrote. He is the first person to win both awards for the same work.

<i>A Very Special House</i> 1953 childrens picture book by Ruth Krauss

A Very Special House, written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is a 1953 children's picture book published by HarperCollins. A Very Special House was a Caldecott Medal Honor Book for 1954 and was Sendak's first Caldecott Honor Medal of a total of seven during his career. Sendak later won the Caldecott Medal in 1964 for Where the Wild Things Are, which he both authored and illustrated. A Very Special House was re-issued by HarperCollins in 2001 in hardcover format as part of a project to re-issue 22 Sendak works including several authored by Ruth Krauss.

Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese is an animated television series based on an original concept by Jeff Harter and Cloudco Entertainment, and directed by Jérémy Guiter for Season 1 and Matthieu Giner for Season 2. The series is an American-French-Irish co-production between Cloudco Entertainment, WatchNext Media, and Kavaleer Productions, and produced with the participation of Gulli, Canal J, the BBC, RTÉ and De Agostini Editore S.p.A. The show originally premiered in the United Kingdom on CBBC on October 31, 2019.

References

  1. "Anatole and the Cat". Barnes and Noble. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938-Present". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 30 November 1999. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. "Anatole and the Cat by Eve Titus". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 16 September 2020.