book cover

To Be A Cat

by Matt Haig

Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+

Published by Bodley Head, 2012

  • Fantasy
  • Funny

About this book

Barney Willow doesn’t think life could get much worse: his parents are divorced, he hates his new school, Gavin Needle bullies him ceaselessly and head-teacher, Miss Whipmire, persecutes him. Then his dad mysteriously disappears. A strange thought comes to him: wouldn’t life be easier as a cat; fed, pampered, free from bullies and crazy teachers?

But a transformed, feline Barney discovers a cat’s life is equally perilous. Miss Whipmire has a dastardly plot, Barney’s in danger and he realises his old life wasn’t quite so bad – but can he return to it?

There’s a darkly surreal humour to this morality tale of feline transformation and dastardly machinations; eccentric authorial interventions and family and friends save the day - but be careful what you wish for!

About the author

Matt Haig was BookTrust's eighth online Writer in Residence. His first novel for young readers, Shadow Forest, won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award and the Gold Smarties Award. He is also the author of various adult novels, including the bestsellers The Last Family in England and The Radleys. Reviewers have called his writing 'totally engrossing', 'touching, quirky and macabre' and 'so surprising and strange that it vaults into a realm all of its own'. His books have been translated into 25 languages. He lives in York.

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