Carbonel: The King of the Cats
 First US edition | |
| Author | Barbara Sleigh |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Carbonel series |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher |
Max Parrish (UK) Bobbs-Merrill (US) |
Publication date | 1955 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Followed by | The Kingdom of Carbonel |
Carbonel: the King of the Cats is a children's book by Barbara Sleigh, first published by Puffin Books in 1955, and in the US by Bobbs-Merrill, 1955. It is based on an old folk tale from the British Isles[1] "The King of the Cats" and has two sequels, The Kingdom of Carbonel (Puffin, 1961) and Carbonel and Calidor: Being the Further Adventures of a Royal Cat (Kestrel Books, 1978), making up the Carbonel series. The first edition of Carbonel was illustrated by V. H. Drummond, and of Kingdom by D. M. Leonard.
Plot summary
A girl named Rosemary buys a broom and a cat from Mrs Cantrip, an untidy woman in the market place. When the cat starts talking to Rosemary, she learns that the woman is a witch, selling her possessions to start a new career. Moreover, the cat, Carbonel, just happens to be King of the Cats, presumed missing by his subjects since the witch abducted him. Unfortunately, he cannot return to his throne until the enslavement spell Mrs Cantrip cast on him is undone. Rosemary, together with her new friend John, have to learn a little witchcraft themselves, and then track down Mrs Cantrip to obtain her, at best ambivalent, help.
Main characters in "Carbonel: the King of the Cats"
- Rosemary Brown – who buys Carbonel
- Carbonel – the cat protagonist
- Rosemary's mother, a poor widow and seamstress
- Mrs Cantrip – kidnapper of Carbonel and a (semi-retired) witch
- John – Rosemary's friend, and the nephew of Mrs Brown's employer
Release details
- 1955, UK, Puffin Books ISBN ?, Pub date ? ? 1955, paperback (First edition)
- 1957, UK, Atheneum ISBN 0-672-50241-0, Pub date ? January 1957, hardback
- 1970, UK, Puffin Books ISBN 0-14-030155-0, Pub date 29 January 1970, paperback
- 1975, UK, Viking Children's Books ISBN 0-7226-6475-3, Pub date 31 December 1975, hardback
- 2004, US, New York Review of Books ISBN 1-59017-126-8, Pub date ? Nov 2004, hardback
- 2005, UK, Penguin Books Limited ISBN 0-14-131973-9, Pub date 25 August 2005
Carbonel (the first book) is currently (as of 2005) in print in hardback in the US as part of the New York Review Children's Collection. The UK paperback was reprinted in August 2005 by Puffin.