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Juu progressively loses the ability to relax & enjoy the fantasy: a series (of reviews).
The premise of these, in general and in specific, can make for unparalleled wish fulfillment: cats, but better! the socialization of feral Jane! That these are illustrated is a big part of what makes them so endearing; I don't think I ever read these as a kid, but I internalized the aesthetic via cultural osmosis and it's as good as I imagined.
The first two books do the heavy lifting for the wish-fulfillment. I liked them a lot and in retrospect I should've stopped there. The last two books progress the series, contrasting the Catwings with their unwinged cousins, progressing character arcs—all productive avenues for storytelling but reading less like actual cats & leaning instead into the romanticization of outdoor cats, my #1 pet peeve inlife fiction about cats.
It feels weird to 2-star a Le Guin but, like, these are 50 pages kids books; it feels less damning to find shallow flaws in them than in her """"real"" books & anyway these are flaws that I take personally.
Title: Catwings (Catwings Book 1)
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Illustrator: S.D. Schindler
Published: Scholastic, 1990 (1988)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 373,365
Text Number: 1374
Read Because: personal enjoyment, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A stray cat's litter is born with wings that let them escape the city into the questionable safety of the countryside. I struggle with fictional depictions of cats because they frequently feel like pastiche and often romanticize outdated/unsafe practices; this is absolutely not the exception that breaks that rule, but it's not as bad as some and it's counterbalanced by an incredibly constrained length and a premise that makes me realize, oh, that's why romanticized pastiches exist! Cats can't be improved upon, but the whimsy and beauty of a winged cat is such a pleasure, and the illustrations don't hurt.
Title: Catwings Return (Catwings Book 2)
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Illustrator: S.D. Schindler
Published: Orchard Books, 2006 (1989)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 55
Total Page Count: 375,595
Text Number: 1388
Read Because: reading the series, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Two of the catwings fly home to visit their mother, and instead find an abandoned kitten. I retain that impulse to be grumpy about the twee fictionalization of cats, and it doesn't help that the illustrations here are less successful than in the first book. But the fantasy of being a little black winged kitten, shouting "me!" and "hate!" at the world, found by long-lost family and socialized by purrs loud and low, is a daydream most enviable and profound. It's perfect in 50 pages, short enough to leave me wanting more and to constrain the twee; and Mama Jane is adopted into an indoor home!; and Le Guin's depiction of cats, however romanticized, also rings true—which can't be said of most fictionalizations.
( Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings (Catwings Book 3) )
( Jane on Her Own (Catwings Book 4) )
The premise of these, in general and in specific, can make for unparalleled wish fulfillment: cats, but better! the socialization of feral Jane! That these are illustrated is a big part of what makes them so endearing; I don't think I ever read these as a kid, but I internalized the aesthetic via cultural osmosis and it's as good as I imagined.
The first two books do the heavy lifting for the wish-fulfillment. I liked them a lot and in retrospect I should've stopped there. The last two books progress the series, contrasting the Catwings with their unwinged cousins, progressing character arcs—all productive avenues for storytelling but reading less like actual cats & leaning instead into the romanticization of outdoor cats, my #1 pet peeve in
It feels weird to 2-star a Le Guin but, like, these are 50 pages kids books; it feels less damning to find shallow flaws in them than in her """"real"" books & anyway these are flaws that I take personally.
Title: Catwings (Catwings Book 1)
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Illustrator: S.D. Schindler
Published: Scholastic, 1990 (1988)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 373,365
Text Number: 1374
Read Because: personal enjoyment, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A stray cat's litter is born with wings that let them escape the city into the questionable safety of the countryside. I struggle with fictional depictions of cats because they frequently feel like pastiche and often romanticize outdated/unsafe practices; this is absolutely not the exception that breaks that rule, but it's not as bad as some and it's counterbalanced by an incredibly constrained length and a premise that makes me realize, oh, that's why romanticized pastiches exist! Cats can't be improved upon, but the whimsy and beauty of a winged cat is such a pleasure, and the illustrations don't hurt.
Title: Catwings Return (Catwings Book 2)
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Illustrator: S.D. Schindler
Published: Orchard Books, 2006 (1989)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 55
Total Page Count: 375,595
Text Number: 1388
Read Because: reading the series, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Two of the catwings fly home to visit their mother, and instead find an abandoned kitten. I retain that impulse to be grumpy about the twee fictionalization of cats, and it doesn't help that the illustrations here are less successful than in the first book. But the fantasy of being a little black winged kitten, shouting "me!" and "hate!" at the world, found by long-lost family and socialized by purrs loud and low, is a daydream most enviable and profound. It's perfect in 50 pages, short enough to leave me wanting more and to constrain the twee; and Mama Jane is adopted into an indoor home!; and Le Guin's depiction of cats, however romanticized, also rings true—which can't be said of most fictionalizations.
( Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings (Catwings Book 3) )
( Jane on Her Own (Catwings Book 4) )
