Reception
Miriam Moore from The Spinoff ranked The Cat Mummy as second best on her ranked list of the 30 Jacqueline Wilson books that she had read, noting that she told Wilson that her own cat died when she met her at a book signing. [7] Moore also noted that the book inspired her to ask for bath salts due to Verity using them in the story to hide the smell of her dead cat. [7] Ella Dove from Good Housekeeping placed The Cat Mummy on her list of the 10 best Jacqueline Wilson books, believing that whilst it had a peculiar premise, "this endearing book tackles the important topics of love and loss in an accessible and unique way." [8] The book had average ratings of 4 out of 5 stars on the Summer Reading Challenge website. [9] Hanifah Rahman from BuzzFeed included the novel in her article discussing how dark Wilson's books were, writing, "I feel like this one is very much overlooked among Jacqueline's whole collection, but when you think about it, a kid embalming their dead cat is really quite disturbing", and she opined that Mabel's "devoted and caring" father and grandparents were "kinda boring". [10] Rebecca Reid from Metro included the novel on her ranked list of Wilson's books from most to least depressing, ranking it as the 13th depressing out of 21 of her novels, adding, "A child tried to mummify her cat. 'Nuff said." [11] The themes of death and grief in the novel were discussed in an essay by Isabelle Larrivée, who drew comparison between Mabel's death and the death of Verity's mother. [12]
A writer from BookTrust called the novel a "deceptively simple tale which explores the issue of bereavement for younger readers", noting that "As well as focusing on the trauma of a family pet dying, Wilson also examines the fact that the family never really came to terms with the death of Verity's mother". [13] Express on Sunday called the novel funny and "touching". [14] The novel was described as "Both hilarious and poignant" and a "sure-fire hit" by The Scotsman , whilst Financial Times praised the way that loss was portrayed in the novel. [5] A writer from The Bookseller praised the novel for not trivialising the emotions portrayed in the story, calling it a "touching and sad situation" which was dealt "with a light touch". [14] Wilson's portrayal of bereavement was also praised by TES , who opined that the author "economically and entertainingly embraced life's highs and lows". [14] A writer from The Daily Telegraph opined that the novel dealt with the "common first experience of mortality", noting that Verity mummifies her cat "in a bid to stave off what she knows but cannot acknowledge". [3] The writer believed that Wilson's "off-kilter humour and irreverent, taboo-breaking energy" set the book apart from "earnest 'problem' books". [3] Mary Trim discussed the novel in her book Growing and Knowing: A Selection Guide for Children's Literature, noting how Wilson "sensitively" considers Verity's mother's death "told in conjunction" to the death of Mabel. [15] Trim observed that the family accepted one death by coming to terms with the other. [15] A reviewer from Reading Time observed that Mabel's death was the "catalyst" for the family to "work through" their grief of Mabel and Verity's mum. [16] They also opined that Wilson is able to "weave important lessons" about life and friendship "with real appeal to younger readers" and noted that Sharratt's "simple line drawings attractively supplement the text". [16]
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