Today, we have many examples of children's (see the lately published Animalcolm by David Baddiel) about children turning to animals. Every time I hear that piping theme, I cry for the world and the love he knew both for a lifetime and for only twenty-five minutes.

There seems to be a disconnect between acts, and I was deeply bothered by the fact that the entire second act was a coma dream. One was slightly relieved not to find out what might have happened had Peter not died and reverted back to his human self.A small, skinny, tabby cat comes to his rescue and teaches Peter how to think, eat, act and live like a cat. Gallico, a life long animal, and particularly cat-animal lover, absolutely takes the reader inside cat-dom.

The poignancy of all three of these stories hits the same achy spot in my heart, but I had no idea until I reread it, that for ten-year-old-me, Jennie had been the foundation, the model, the prototype, even the archetype for this kind of heartbreaking, bittersweet story. If you are someone who loves cats, who has a pet cat, or planning to get one, this article Fascinating Facts About Cats is just for you. Though I loved the whole book, my favourite part of the book was the middle part which runs to around six chapters in which Jennie and Peter board a ship and go to Glasgow. Apparently, according to cat law, a female cat must go with a male cat once he has claimed ownership of her. I first read Paul Gallico’s delightful (and sobbingly heart-aching) book about a little boy who finds himself changed into a cat, when I was probably at target age 8-11, I think.This does sound rather lovely, though – there’s something very special about revisiting those books from our past that really matter to us, isn’t there? The original series episode that immediately leapt to mind (Tribbles aside) was “The Paradise Syndrome,” in which Kirk loses his memory and lives a peaceful, happy life for months with Miramanee, a pseudo-native-American on an unspoiled planet in the path of an asteroid.