When it was announced that Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, had been named the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States, I decided to revisit some of her work. Besides writing some of the most beautiful poetry I've ever read, Harjo also wrote one of my three favorite cat books, favorites because they all have one thing in common: the cat is not anthropomorphized and is allowed to behave like a cat.
The Good Luck Cat was published in 2000, and is Harjo's debut children's book (her other children's book is an excellent book of poems called For a Girl Becoming). The Good Luck Cat* has been out of print for a while, and although I don't usually write about books that are hard to find, I decided to make an exception because I know this book can be found in the library, either your local library or through interlibrary loan. I then discovered that Debbie Reese had already suggested people try to get The Good Luck Cat reprinted, and that would be wonderful. Here's the image she posted that could be used on social media in the hope a publisher might decide to do a reprint:
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But, for all Woogie's good luck gifts, her nine lives went pretty fast. Woogie is a cat that is allowed to go outside and gets into all kinds of accidents and trouble, some of which cost her each one of her lives. There's the time she fell asleep on the car's motor to keep warm, the time she followed the narrator and her brother to school and ran out in front of a car, or the time she ended up in the dryer, spinning and yowling to get out.
Her fourth life was taken by a cousin's dog who almost ate Woogie, then life number five was lost in a fight with another cousin's cat, number six was lost when she fell out of a tree and didn't land on her feet. She lost number 7 to some boys chasing her with a BB gun. The narrator takes responsibility for costing her kitty her eight life. She decided to take Woogie to the fall powwow, but forgot about her in the car. Luckily it wasn't summer, but still...
But when Woogie disappears with only one life left, the narrator really begins to worry. The girl, her Aunt Shelly and all the cousins go looking for her in all the places where Woogie had lost a life, but no luck. After four days, the our sad narrator decides to put out a dish of food, Woogie's catnip mouse, and her ball hoping they will lure her home. Sure enough, the next morning, there's Woogie sound asleep by her empty dish, purring away with half an ear missing, but otherwise, none the worse for wear. According to Aunt Shelly, Woogie is really a lucky cat because she clearly has more than nine lives.
The first thing that attracted me to this story was the language. Harjo is a poet and her prose has the same tender lyrical feel to it as her poetry: "I have a cat, a stripedy cat with tickling whiskers and green electric eyes. She has the softest fur in the world. When I pet her she purrs as if she has a drum near her heart." What a wonderful image.
I love cats, particularly tabby cats, and Paul Lee's artistic rendition of Woogie is my perfect kitty. His acrylic illustrations are clearly focused and realistic, and his images of the narrator and Woogie together are full of affection. And although this is Woogie's story, it is also a lovely Native American story, apparent in both illustration and text.
My fingers are crossed for a possible future reprint.
If you would like to know more about Joy Harjo and her work, you can visit her HERE
This book is recommended for all cat lovers
This book was borrowed from the library
*If you really want a good second hand copy, Better World Books has one for sale for a mere $1,219.12 + $3.99 shipping.
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